Building system with entity graph storing events

ABSTRACT

One or more non-transitory computer readable media contain program instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to: receive first raw data including one or more first data points generated by a first object of a plurality of objects associated with one or more buildings; generate first input timeseries according to the one or more data points; access a database of interconnected smart entities, the smart entities including object entities representing each of the plurality of objects and data entities representing stored data, the smart entities being interconnected by relational objects indicating relationships between the smart entities; identify a first object entity representing the first object from a first identifier in the first input timeseries; identify a first data entity from a first relational object indicating a relationship between the first object entity and the first data entity; and store the first input timeseries in the first data entity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/723,600 filed Dec. 20, 2019 which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/143,423 filed Sep. 26, 2018 which claims thebenefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/564,247 filed Sep. 27, 2017, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/611,974 filed Dec. 29, 2017, and U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/611,984 filed Dec. 29, 2017. U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/143,423 filed Sep. 26, 2018 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/644,519 filed Jul. 7, 2017, which claims thebenefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/457,654 filed Feb. 10, 2017. U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/143,423 filed Sep. 26, 2018 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/644,581 filed Jul. 7, 2017, which claimsthe benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/457,654 filed Feb. 10, 2017. U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/143,423 filed Sep. 26, 2018 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/644,560 filed Jul. 7, 2017, which claimsthe benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/457,654 filed Feb. 10, 2017. The entire disclosure of each of thesepatent applications is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of a buildingmanagement platform that is communicatively connected to one or morebuilding management systems in a smart building environment. A buildingmanagement system (BMS) is, in general, a system of devices configuredto control, monitor, and manage equipment in or around a building orbuilding area. A BMS can include, for example, a HVAC system, a securitysystem, a lighting system, a fire alerting system, any other system thatis capable of managing building functions or devices, or any combinationthereof.

A BMS can collect data from objects associated with a building, such asother BMSs, building subsystems, devices, sensors and other types ofbuilding equipment. Building management platforms are utilized toregister and manage the objects, gather and analyze data produced by theobjects, and provide recommendations or results based on the collecteddata. As the number of buildings transitioning to a smart buildingenvironment increases, the amount of data being produced and collectedhas been increasing exponentially. Accordingly, effective analysis of aplethora of collected data is desired.

SUMMARY

One implementation of the present disclosure is a building managementcloud computing system for managing timeseries data relating to aplurality of objects associated with one or more buildings. Theplurality of objects each represent a space, a person, buildingsubsystem, and/or device. The plurality of objects are connected to oneor more electronic communications networks. The system includes one ormore processors and one or more computer-readable storage media. The oneor more processors are communicably coupled to a database ofinterconnected smart entities, the smart entities including objectentities representing each of the plurality of objects and data entitiesrepresenting stored data, the smart entities being interconnected byrelational objects indicating relationships between the object entitiesand the data entities. The one or more computer-readable store media arecommunicably coupled to the one or more processors and have instructionsstored thereon. When executed by the one or more processors, theinstructions cause the one or more processors to receive first raw datafrom a first object of the plurality of objects. The first raw dataincludes one or more first data points generated by the first object.The instructions when executed cause the one or more processors togenerate first input timeseries according to the one or more datapoints, identify a first object entity representing the first objectfrom a first identifier in the first input timeseries, identify a firstdata entity from a first relational object indicating a relationshipbetween the first object entity and the first data entity, and store thefirst input timeseries in the first data entity.

In some embodiments, the relational objects may semantically define therelationships between the object entities and the data entities.

In some embodiments, one or more of the object entities may include astatic attribute to identify the object entity, a dynamic attribute tostore data associated with the object entity that changes over time, anda behavioral attribute that defines an expected response of the objectentity in response to an input.

In some embodiments, the first input timeseries may correspond to thedynamic attribute of the first object entity.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first data points in the firstinput timeseries may be stored in the dynamic attribute of the firstobject entity.

In some embodiments, the input timeseries may include the firstidentifier, a timestamp indicating a generation time of the one or morefirst data points, and a value of the one or more first data points.

In some embodiments, the instructions may further cause the one or moreprocessors to identify a second object entity representing a secondobject from a second relational object indicating a relationship betweenthe first object entity and the second object entity, and identify asecond data entity from a third relational object indicating arelationship between the second object entity and the second dataentity. The second data entity may store second input timeseriescorresponding to one or more second data points associated with thesecond object.

In some embodiments, the instructions may further cause the one or moreprocessors to identify one or more processing workflows that defines oneor more processing operations to generate derived timeseries using thefirst and second input timeseries, execute the one or more processingworkflows to generate the derived timeseries, identify a third dataentity from a fourth relational object indicating a relationship betweenthe second object entity and the third data entity, and store thederived timeseries in the third data entity.

In some embodiments, the first object may be an access control deviceand the second object may be an access keycard associated with a person.

In some embodiments, the derived timeseries may include one or morevirtual data points calculated according to the first and second inputtimeseries.

In some embodiments, the one or more virtual data points may include oneor more location attributes of the person.

In some embodiments, the first object may be a temperature sensor andthe second object may be a variable air volume unit (VAV).

In some embodiments, the derived timeseries may include an abnormaltemperature attribute corresponding to a space in which the temperaturesensor is located and which the VAV is configured to serve.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first or second objects may bea temperature sensor.

In some embodiments, the instructions may further cause the one or moreprocessors to periodically receive temperature measurements from thetemperature sensor, and update at least the derived timeseries in thethird data entity each time a new temperature measurement from thetemperature sensor is received.

In some embodiments, the derived timeseries may include an averageambient temperature of a space in which the temperature sensor islocated.

In some embodiments, the instructions may further cause the one or moreprocessors to create a shadow entity to store historical values of thefirst raw data.

In some embodiments, the instructions may further cause the one or moreprocessors to calculate a virtual data point from the historical values,and create a fourth data entity to store the virtual data point.

Another implementation of the present disclosure is a method formanaging timeseries data relating to a plurality of objects associatedwith one or more buildings. The plurality of objects each represent aspace, person, building system, and/or device. The plurality of objectsare connected to one or more electronic communications networks. Themethod includes receiving first raw data from a first object of theplurality of objects. The first raw data includes one or more first datapoints generated by the first object. The method includes generatingfirst input timeseries according to the one or more data points, andaccessing a database of interconnected smart entities. The smartentities include object entities representing each of the plurality ofobjects and data entities representing stored data, the smart entitiesbeing interconnected by relational objects indicating relationshipsbetween the object entities and the data entities. The method includesidentifying a first object entity representing the first object from afirst identifier in the first input timeseries, identifying a first dataentity from a first relational object indicating a relationship betweenthe first object entity and the first data entity, and storing the firstinput timeseries in the first data entity.

In some embodiments, the relational objects may semantically define therelationships between the object entities and the data entities.

In some embodiments, one or more of the object entities may include astatic attribute to identify the object entity, a dynamic attribute tostore data associated with the object entity that changes over time, anda behavioral attribute that defines an expected response of the objectentity in response to an input.

In some embodiments, the first input timeseries may correspond to thedynamic attribute of the first object entity.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first data points in the firstinput timeseries may be stored in the dynamic attribute of the firstobject entity.

In some embodiments, the input timeseries may include the firstidentifier, a timestamp indicating a generation time of the one or morefirst data points, and a value of the one or more first data points.

In some embodiments, the method may further include identifying a secondobject entity representing a second object from a second relationalobject indicating a relationship between the first object entity and thesecond object entity, and identifying a second data entity from a thirdrelational object indicating a relationship between the second objectentity and the second data entity. The second data entity may storesecond input timeseries corresponding to one or more second data pointsassociated with the second object.

In some embodiments, the method may further include identifying one ormore processing workflows that defines one or more processing operationsto generate derived timeseries using the first and second inputtimeseries, executing the one or more processing workflows to generatethe derived timeseries, identifying a third data entity from a fourthrelational object indicating a relationship between the second objectentity and the third data entity, and storing the derived timeseries inthe third data entity.

In some embodiments, the first object may be an access control deviceand the second object may be an access keycard associated with a person.

In some embodiments, the derived timeseries may include one or morevirtual data points calculated according to the first and second inputtimeseries.

In some embodiments, the one or more virtual data points may include oneor more location attributes of the person.

In some embodiments, the first object may be a temperature sensor andthe second object may be a variable air volume unit (VAV).

In some embodiments, the derived timeseries may include an abnormaltemperature attribute corresponding to a space in which the temperaturesensor is located and which the VAV is configured to serve.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first or second objects may bea temperature sensor.

In some embodiments, the method may further include periodicallyreceiving temperature measurements from the temperature sensor, andupdating at least the derived timeseries in the third data entity eachtime a new temperature measurement from the temperature sensor isreceived.

In some embodiments, the derived timeseries may include an averageambient temperature of a space in which the temperature sensor islocated.

In some embodiments, the method may further include creating a shadowentity to store historical values of the first raw data.

In some embodiments, the method may further include calculating avirtual data point from the historical values, and creating a fourthdata entity to store the virtual data point.

Another implementation of the present disclosure is one or morenon-transitory computer readable media containing program instructions.When executed by one or more processors, the instructions cause the oneor more processors to perform operations including receiving first rawdata from a first object of a plurality of objects associated with oneor more buildings. The plurality of objects each represent a space,person, building subsystem, and/or device. The first raw data includesone or more first data points generated by the first object. The methodincludes generating first input timeseries according to the one or moredata points, and accessing a database of interconnected smart entities.The smart entities include object entities representing each of theplurality of objects and data entities representing stored data, thesmart entities being interconnected by relational objects indicatingrelationships between the object entities and the data entities. Themethod includes identifying a first object entity representing the firstobject from a first identifier in the first input timeseries,identifying a first data entity from a first relational objectindicating a relationship between the first object entity and the firstdata entity, and storing the first input timeseries in the first dataentity.

In some embodiments, the relational objects may semantically define therelationships between the object entities and the data entities.

In some embodiments, one or more of the object entities may include astatic attribute to identify the object entity, a dynamic attribute tostore data associated with the object entity that changes over time, anda behavioral attribute that defines an expected response of the objectentity in response to an input.

In some embodiments, the first input timeseries may correspond to thedynamic attribute of the first object entity.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first data points in the firstinput timeseries may be stored in the dynamic attribute of the firstobject entity.

In some embodiments, the input timeseries may include the firstidentifier, a timestamp indicating a generation time of the one or morefirst data points, and a value of the one or more first data points.

In some embodiments, the instructions may further cause the one or moreprocessors to identify a second object entity representing a secondobject from a second relational object indicating a relationship betweenthe first object entity and the second object entity, and identify asecond data entity from a third relational object indicating arelationship between the second object entity and the second dataentity. The second data entity may store second input timeseriescorresponding to one or more second data points associated with thesecond object.

In some embodiments, the program instructions may further cause the oneor more processors to identify one or more processing workflows thatdefines one or more processing operations to generate derived timeseriesusing the first and second input timeseries, execute the one or moreprocessing workflows to generate the derived timeseries, identify athird data entity from a fourth relational object indicating arelationship between the second object entity and the third data entity,and store the derived timeseries in the third data entity.

In some embodiments, the first object may be an access control deviceand the second object may be an access keycard associated with a person.

In some embodiments, the derived timeseries may include one or morevirtual data points calculated according to the first and second inputtimeseries.

In some embodiments, the one or more virtual data points may include oneor more location attributes of the person.

In some embodiments, the first object may be a temperature sensor andthe second object may be a variable air volume unit (VAV).

In some embodiments, the derived timeseries may include an abnormaltemperature attribute corresponding to a space in which the temperaturesensor is located and which the VAV is configured to serve.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first or second objects may bea temperature sensor.

In some embodiments, the instructions may cause the one or moreprocessors to periodically receive temperature measurements from thetemperature sensor, and update at least the derived timeseries in thethird data entity each time a new temperature measurement from thetemperature sensor is received.

In some embodiments, the derived timeseries may include an averageambient temperature of a space in which the temperature sensor islocated.

In some embodiments, the instructions may further cause the one or moreprocessors to create a shadow entity to store historical values of thefirst raw data.

In some embodiments, the instructions may further cause the one or moreprocessors to calculate a virtual data point from the historical values,and create a fourth data entity to store the virtual data point.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects and features of the present disclosure willbecome more apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description of the example embodiments with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a smart building environment, according tosome exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a smart building, according to someexemplary embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a waterside system, according to someexemplary embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an airside system, according to someexemplary embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a building management system, according tosome exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of another building management system,according to some exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an entity service of FIG. 6 ingreater detail, according to some exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 8 in an example entity graph of entity data, according to someexemplary embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating timeseries service of FIG. 6 ingreater detail, according to some exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a process or method for updating/creatingan attribute of a related entity based on data received from a device ofa building management subsystem, according to some exemplaryembodiments;

FIG. 11 is an example entity graph of entity data, according to someexemplary embodiments;

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a process or method for analyzing data froma second related device based on data from a first device, according tosome exemplary embodiments; and

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a process or method for generating derivedtimeseries from data generated by a first device and a second device,according to some exemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described in more detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a smart building environment 100, accordingto some exemplary embodiments. Smart building environment 100 is shownto include a building management platform 102. Building managementplatform 102 can be configured to collect data from a variety ofdifferent data sources. For example, building management platform 102 isshown collecting data from buildings 110, 120, 130, and 140. Forexample, the buildings may include a school 110, a hospital 120, afactory 130, an office building 140, and/or the like. However thepresent disclosure is not limited to the number or types of buildings110, 120, 130, and 140 shown in FIG. 1. For example, in someembodiments, building management platform 102 may be configured tocollect data from one or more buildings, and the one or more buildingsmay be the same type of building, or may include one or more differenttypes of buildings than that shown in FIG. 1.

Building management platform 102 can be configured to collect data froma variety of devices 112-116, 122-126, 132-136, and 142-146, eitherdirectly (e.g., directly via network 104) or indirectly (e.g., viasystems or applications in the buildings 110, 120, 130, 140). In someembodiments, devices 112-116, 122-126, 132-136, and 142-146 are internetof things (IoT) devices. IoT devices may include any of a variety ofphysical devices, sensors, actuators, electronics, vehicles, homeappliances, and/or other items having network connectivity which enableIoT devices to communicate with building management platform 102. Forexample, IoT devices can include smart home hub devices, smart housedevices, doorbell cameras, air quality sensors, smart switches, smartlights, smart appliances, garage door openers, smoke detectors, heartmonitoring implants, biochip transponders, cameras streaming live feeds,automobiles with built-in sensors, DNA analysis devices, field operationdevices, tracking devices for people/vehicles/equipment, networkedsensors, wireless sensors, wearable sensors, environmental sensors, RFIDgateways and readers, IoT gateway devices, robots and other roboticdevices, GPS devices, smart watches, virtual/augmented reality devices,and/or other networked or networkable devices. While the devicesdescribed herein are generally referred to as IoT devices, it should beunderstood that, in various embodiments, the devices referenced in thepresent disclosure could be any type of devices capable of communicatingdata over an electronic network.

In some embodiments, IoT devices may include sensors or sensor systems.For example, IoT devices may include acoustic sensors, sound sensors,vibration sensors, automotive or transportation sensors, chemicalsensors, electric current sensors, electric voltage sensors, magneticsensors, radio sensors, environment sensors, weather sensors, moisturesensors, humidity sensors, flow sensors, fluid velocity sensors,ionizing radiation sensors, subatomic particle sensors, navigationinstruments, position sensors, angle sensors, displacement sensors,distance sensors, speed sensors, acceleration sensors, optical sensors,light sensors, imaging devices, photon sensors, pressure sensors, forcesensors, density sensors, level sensors, thermal sensors, heat sensors,temperature sensors, proximity sensors, presence sensors, and/or anyother type of sensors or sensing systems.

Examples of acoustic, sound, or vibration sensors include geophones,hydrophones, lace sensors, guitar pickups, microphones, andseismometers. Examples of automotive or transportation sensors includeair flow meters, air-fuel ratio meters, AFR sensors, blind spotmonitors, crankshaft position sensors, defect detectors, engine coolanttemperature sensors, Hall effect sensors, knock sensors, map sensors,mass flow sensors, oxygen sensors, parking sensors, radar guns,speedometers, speed sensors, throttle position sensors, tire-pressuremonitoring sensors, torque sensors, transmission fluid temperaturesensors, turbine speed sensors, variable reluctance sensors, vehiclespeed sensors, water sensors, and wheel speed sensors.

Examples of chemical sensors include breathalyzers, carbon dioxidesensors, carbon monoxide detectors, catalytic bead sensors, chemicalfield-effect transistors, chemiresistors, electrochemical gas sensors,electronic noses, electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor sensors,fluorescent chloride sensors, holographic sensors, hydrocarbon dew pointanalyzers, hydrogen sensors, hydrogen sulfide sensors, infrared pointsensors, ion-selective electrodes, nondispersive infrared sensors,microwave chemistry sensors, nitrogen oxide sensors, olfactometers,optodes, oxygen sensors, ozone monitors, pellistors, pH glasselectrodes, potentiometric sensors, redox electrodes, smoke detectors,and zinc oxide nanorod sensors.

Examples of electromagnetic sensors include current sensors, Dalydetectors, electroscopes, electron multipliers, Faraday cups,galvanometers, Hall effect sensors, Hall probes, magnetic anomalydetectors, magnetometers, magnetoresistances, mems magnetic fieldsensors, metal detectors, planar hall sensors, radio direction finders,and voltage detectors.

Examples of environmental sensors include actinometers, air pollutionsensors, bedwetting alarms, ceilometers, dew warnings, electrochemicalgas sensors, fish counters, frequency domain sensors, gas detectors,hook gauge evaporimeters, humistors, hygrometers, leaf sensors,lysimeters, pyranometers, pyrgeometers, psychrometers, rain gauges, rainsensors, seismometers, SNOTEL sensors, snow gauges, soil moisturesensors, stream gauges, and tide gauges. Examples of flow and fluidvelocity sensors include air flow meters, anemometers, flow sensors, gasmeter, mass flow sensors, and water meters.

Examples of radiation and particle sensors include cloud chambers,Geiger counters, Geiger-Muller tubes, ionisation chambers, neutrondetections, proportional counters, scintillation counters, semiconductordetectors, and thermoluminescent dosimeters. Wexamples of navigationinstruments include air speed indicators, altimeters, attitudeindicators, depth gauges, fluxgate compasses, gyroscopes, inertialnavigation systems, inertial reference nits, magnetic compasses, MHDsensors, ring laser gyroscopes, turn coordinators, tialinx sensors,variometers, vibrating structure gyroscopes, and yaw rate sensors.

Examples of position, angle, displacement, distance, speed, andacceleration sensors include auxanometers, capacitive displacementsensors, capacitive sensing devices, flex sensors, free fall sensors,gravimeters, gyroscopic sensors, impact sensors, inclinometers,integrated circuit piezoelectric sensors, laser rangefinders, lasersurface velocimeters, LIDAR sensors, linear encoders, linear variabledifferential transformers (LVDT), liquid capacitive inclinometersodometers, photoelectric sensors, piezoelectric accelerometers, positionsensors, position sensitive devices, angular rate sensors, rotaryencoders, rotary variable differential transformers, selsyns, shockdetectors, shock data loggers, tilt sensors, tachometers, ultrasonicthickness gauges, variable reluctance sensors, and velocity receivers.

Examples of optical, light, imaging, and photon sensors includecharge-coupled devices, CMOS sensors, colorimeters, contact imagesensors, electro-optical sensors, flame detectors, infra-red sensors,kinetic inductance detectors, led as light sensors, light-addressablepotentiometric sensors, Nichols radiometers, fiber optic sensors,optical position sensors, thermopile laser sensors, photodetectors,photodiodes, photomultiplier tubes, phototransistors, photoelectricsensors, photoionization detectors, photomultipliers, photoresistors,photoswitches, phototubes, scintillometers, Shack-Hartmann sensors,single-photon avalanche diodes, superconducting nanowire single-photondetectors, transition edge sensors, visible light photon counters, andwavefront sensors.

Examples of pressure sensors include barographs, barometers, boostgauges, bourdon gauges, hot filament ionization gauges, ionizationgauges, McLeod gauges, oscillating u-tubes, permanent downhole gauges,piezometers, pirani gauges, pressure sensors, pressure gauges, tactilesensors, and time pressure gauges. Examples of force, density, and levelsensors include bhangmeters, hydrometers, force gauge and force sensors,level sensors, load cells, magnetic level gauges, nuclear densitygauges, piezocapacitive pressure sensors, piezoelectric sensors, straingauges, torque sensors, and viscometers.

Examples of thermal, heat, and temperature sensors include bolometers,bimetallic strips, calorimeters, exhaust gas temperature gauges, flamedetections, Gardon gauges, Golay cells, heat flux sensors, infraredthermometers, microbolometers, microwave radiometers, net radiometers,quartz thermometers, resistance thermometers, silicon bandgaptemperature sensors, special sensor microwave/imagers, temperaturegauges, thermistors, thermocouples, thermometers, and pyrometers.Examples of proximity and presence sensors include alarm sensors,Doppler radars, motion detectors, occupancy sensors, proximity sensors,passive infrared sensors, reed switches, stud finders, triangulationsensors, touch switches, and wired gloves.

In some embodiments, different sensors send measurements or other datato building management platform 102 using a variety of differentcommunications protocols or data formats. Building management platform102 can be configured to ingest sensor data received in any protocol ordata format and translate the inbound sensor data into a common dataformat. Building management platform 102 can create a sensor objectsmart entity for each sensor that communicates with Building managementplatform 102. Each sensor object smart entity may include one or morestatic attributes that describe the corresponding sensor, one or moredynamic attributes that indicate the most recent values collected by thesensor, and/or one or more relational attributes that relate sensorsobject smart entities to each other and/or to other types of smartentities (e.g., space entities, system entities, data entities, etc.).

In some embodiments, building management platform 102 stores sensor datausing data entities. Each data entity may correspond to a particularsensor and may include a timeseries of data values received from thecorresponding sensor. In some embodiments, building management platform102 stores relational objects that define relationships between sensorobject entities and the corresponding data entity. For example, eachrelational object may identify a particular sensor object entity, aparticular data entity, and may define a link between such entities.

Building management platform 102 can collect data from a variety ofexternal systems or services. For example, building management platform102 is shown receiving weather data from a weather service 152, newsdata from a news service 154, documents and other document-related datafrom a document service 156, and media (e.g., video, images, audio,social media, etc.) from a media service 158. In some embodiments,building management platform 102 generates data internally. For example,building management platform 102 may include a web advertising system, awebsite traffic monitoring system, a web sales system, or other types ofplatform services that generate data. The data generated by buildingmanagement platform 102 can be collected, stored, and processed alongwith the data received from other data sources. Building managementplatform 102 can collect data directly from external systems or devicesor via a network 104 (e.g., a WAN, the Internet, a cellular network,etc.). Building management platform 102 can process and transformcollected data to generate timeseries data and entity data. Severalfeatures of building management platform 102 are described in moredetail below.

Building HVAC Systems and Building Management Systems

Referring now to FIGS. 2-5, several building management systems (BMS)and HVAC systems in which the systems and methods of the presentdisclosure can be implemented are shown, according to some embodiments.In brief overview, FIG. 2 shows a building 10 equipped with, forexample, a HVAC system 200. Building 10 may be any of the buildings 210,220, 230, and 140 as shown in FIG. 1, or may be any other suitablebuilding that is communicatively connected to building managementplatform 202. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a waterside system 300 whichcan be used to serve building 10. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of anairside system 400 which can be used to serve building 10. FIG. 5 is ablock diagram of a building management system (BMS) which can be used tomonitor and control building 10.

Building and HVAC System

Referring particularly to FIG. 2, a perspective view of a smart building10 is shown. Building 10 is served by a BMS. A BMS is, in general, asystem of devices configured to control, monitor, and manage equipmentin or around a building or building area. A BMS can include, forexample, a HVAC system, a security system, a lighting system, a firealerting system, any other system that is capable of managing buildingfunctions or devices, or any combination thereof. Further, each of thesystems may include a plurality of sensors and other devices (e.g., IoTdevices) for the proper operation, maintenance, monitoring, and the likeof the respective systems.

The BMS that serves building 10 includes a HVAC system 200. HVAC system200 can include a plurality of HVAC devices (e.g., heaters, chillers,air handling units, pumps, fans, thermal energy storage, etc.)configured to provide heating, cooling, ventilation, or other servicesfor building 10. For example, HVAC system 200 is shown to include awaterside system 220 and an airside system 230. Waterside system 220 mayprovide a heated or chilled fluid to an air handling unit of airsidesystem 230. Airside system 230 may use the heated or chilled fluid toheat or cool an airflow provided to building 10. An exemplary watersidesystem and airside system which can be used in HVAC system 200 aredescribed in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

HVAC system 200 is shown to include a chiller 202, a boiler 204, and arooftop air handling unit (AHU) 206. Waterside system 220 may use boiler204 and chiller 202 to heat or cool a working fluid (e.g., water,glycol, etc.) and may circulate the working fluid to AHU 206. In variousembodiments, the HVAC devices of waterside system 220 can be located inor around building 10 (as shown in FIG. 2) or at an offsite locationsuch as a central plant (e.g., a chiller plant, a steam plant, a heatplant, etc.). The working fluid can be heated in boiler 204 or cooled inchiller 202, depending on whether heating or cooling is required inbuilding 10. Boiler 204 may add heat to the circulated fluid, forexample, by burning a combustible material (e.g., natural gas) or usingan electric heating element. Chiller 202 may place the circulated fluidin a heat exchange relationship with another fluid (e.g., a refrigerant)in a heat exchanger (e.g., an evaporator) to absorb heat from thecirculated fluid. The working fluid from chiller 202 and/or boiler 204can be transported to AHU 206 via piping 208.

AHU 206 may place the working fluid in a heat exchange relationship withan airflow passing through AHU 206 (e.g., via one or more stages ofcooling coils and/or heating coils). The airflow can be, for example,outside air, return air from within building 10, or a combination ofboth. AHU 206 may transfer heat between the airflow and the workingfluid to provide heating or cooling for the airflow. For example, AHU206 can include one or more fans or blowers configured to pass theairflow over or through a heat exchanger containing the working fluid.The working fluid may then return to chiller 202 or boiler 204 viapiping 210.

Airside system 230 may deliver the airflow supplied by AHU 206 (i.e.,the supply airflow) to building 10 via air supply ducts 212 and mayprovide return air from building 10 to AHU 206 via air return ducts 214.In some embodiments, airside system 230 includes multiple variable airvolume (VAV) units 216. For example, airside system 230 is shown toinclude a separate VAV unit 216 on each floor or zone of building 10.VAV units 216 can include dampers or other flow control elements thatcan be operated to control an amount of the supply airflow provided toindividual zones of building 10. In other embodiments, airside system230 delivers the supply airflow into one or more zones of building 10(e.g., via supply ducts 212) without using intermediate VAV units 216 orother flow control elements. AHU 206 can include various sensors (e.g.,temperature sensors, pressure sensors, etc.) configured to measureattributes of the supply airflow. AHU 206 may receive input from sensorslocated within AHU 206 and/or within the building zone and may adjustthe flow rate, temperature, or other attributes of the supply airflowthrough AHU 206 to achieve setpoint conditions for the building zone.

Waterside System

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a waterside system 300 isshown, according to some embodiments. In various embodiments, watersidesystem 300 may supplement or replace waterside system 220 in HVAC system200 or can be implemented separate from HVAC system 200. Whenimplemented in HVAC system 200, waterside system 300 can include asubset of the HVAC devices in HVAC system 200 (e.g., boiler 204, chiller202, pumps, valves, etc.) and may operate to supply a heated or chilledfluid to AHU 206. The HVAC devices of waterside system 300 can belocated within building 10 (e.g., as components of waterside system 220)or at an offsite location such as a central plant.

In FIG. 3, waterside system 300 is shown as a central plant having aplurality of subplants 302-312. Subplants 302-312 are shown to include aheater subplant 302, a heat recovery chiller subplant 304, a chillersubplant 306, a cooling tower subplant 308, a hot thermal energy storage(TES) subplant 310, and a cold thermal energy storage (TES) subplant312. Subplants 302-312 consume resources (e.g., water, natural gas,electricity, etc.) from utilities to serve thermal energy loads (e.g.,hot water, cold water, heating, cooling, etc.) of a building or campus.For example, heater subplant 302 can be configured to heat water in ahot water loop 314 that circulates the hot water between heater subplant302 and building 10. Chiller subplant 306 can be configured to chillwater in a cold water loop 316 that circulates the cold water betweenchiller subplant 306 and building 10. Heat recovery chiller subplant 304can be configured to transfer heat from cold water loop 316 to hot waterloop 314 to provide additional heating for the hot water and additionalcooling for the cold water. Condenser water loop 318 may absorb heatfrom the cold water in chiller subplant 306 and reject the absorbed heatin cooling tower subplant 308 or transfer the absorbed heat to hot waterloop 314. Hot TES subplant 310 and cold TES subplant 312 may store hotand cold thermal energy, respectively, for subsequent use.

Hot water loop 314 and cold water loop 316 may deliver the heated and/orchilled water to air handlers located on the rooftop of building 10(e.g., AHU 206) or to individual floors or zones of building 10 (e.g.,VAV units 216). The air handlers push air past heat exchangers (e.g.,heating coils or cooling coils) through which the water flows to provideheating or cooling for the air. The heated or cooled air can bedelivered to individual zones of building 10 to serve thermal energyloads of building 10. The water then returns to subplants 302-312 toreceive further heating or cooling.

Although subplants 302-312 are shown and described as heating andcooling water for circulation to a building, it is understood that anyother type of working fluid (e.g., glycol, CO2, etc.) can be used inplace of or in addition to water to serve thermal energy loads. In otherembodiments, subplants 302-312 may provide heating and/or coolingdirectly to the building or campus without requiring an intermediateheat transfer fluid. These and other variations to waterside system 300are within the teachings of the present disclosure.

Each of subplants 302-312 can include a variety of equipment configuredto facilitate the functions of the subplant. For example, heatersubplant 302 is shown to include a plurality of heating elements 320(e.g., boilers, electric heaters, etc.) configured to add heat to thehot water in hot water loop 314. Heater subplant 302 is also shown toinclude several pumps 322 and 324 configured to circulate the hot waterin hot water loop 314 and to control the flow rate of the hot waterthrough individual heating elements 320. Chiller subplant 306 is shownto include a plurality of chillers 332 configured to remove heat fromthe cold water in cold water loop 316. Chiller subplant 306 is alsoshown to include several pumps 334 and 336 configured to circulate thecold water in cold water loop 316 and to control the flow rate of thecold water through individual chillers 332.

Heat recovery chiller subplant 304 is shown to include a plurality ofheat recovery heat exchangers 326 (e.g., refrigeration circuits)configured to transfer heat from cold water loop 316 to hot water loop314. Heat recovery chiller subplant 304 is also shown to include severalpumps 328 and 330 configured to circulate the hot water and/or coldwater through heat recovery heat exchangers 326 and to control the flowrate of the water through individual heat recovery heat exchangers 326.Cooling tower subplant 308 is shown to include a plurality of coolingtowers 338 configured to remove heat from the condenser water incondenser water loop 318. Cooling tower subplant 308 is also shown toinclude several pumps 340 configured to circulate the condenser water incondenser water loop 318 and to control the flow rate of the condenserwater through individual cooling towers 338.

Hot TES subplant 310 is shown to include a hot TES tank 342 configuredto store the hot water for later use. Hot TES subplant 310 may alsoinclude one or more pumps or valves configured to control the flow rateof the hot water into or out of hot TES tank 342. Cold TES subplant 312is shown to include cold TES tanks 344 configured to store the coldwater for later use. Cold TES subplant 312 may also include one or morepumps or valves configured to control the flow rate of the cold waterinto or out of cold TES tanks 344.

In some embodiments, one or more of the pumps in waterside system 300(e.g., pumps 322, 324, 328, 330, 334, 336, and/or 340) or pipelines inwaterside system 300 include an isolation valve associated therewith.Isolation valves can be integrated with the pumps or positioned upstreamor downstream of the pumps to control the fluid flows in watersidesystem 300. In various embodiments, waterside system 300 can includemore, fewer, or different types of devices and/or subplants based on theparticular configuration of waterside system 300 and the types of loadsserved by waterside system 300.

Airside System

Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of an airside system 400 isshown, according to some embodiments. In various embodiments, airsidesystem 400 may supplement or replace airside system 230 in HVAC system200 or can be implemented separate from HVAC system 200. Whenimplemented in HVAC system 200, airside system 400 can include a subsetof the HVAC devices in HVAC system 200 (e.g., AHU 206, VAV units 216,ducts 212-214, fans, dampers, etc.) and can be located in or aroundbuilding 10. Airside system 400 may operate to heat or cool an airflowprovided to building 10 using a heated or chilled fluid provided bywaterside system 300.

In FIG. 4, airside system 400 is shown to include an economizer-type airhandling unit (AHU) 402. Economizer-type AHUs vary the amount of outsideair and return air used by the air handling unit for heating or cooling.For example, AHU 402 may receive return air 404 from building zone 406via return air duct 408 and may deliver supply air 410 to building zone406 via supply air duct 412. In some embodiments, AHU 402 is a rooftopunit located on the roof of building 10 (e.g., AHU 206 as shown in FIG.2) or otherwise positioned to receive both return air 404 and outsideair 414. AHU 402 can be configured to operate exhaust air damper 416,mixing damper 418, and outside air damper 420 to control an amount ofoutside air 414 and return air 404 that combine to form supply air 410.Any return air 404 that does not pass through mixing damper 418 can beexhausted from AHU 402 through exhaust damper 416 as exhaust air 422.

Each of dampers 416-420 can be operated by an actuator. For example,exhaust air damper 416 can be operated by actuator 424, mixing damper418 can be operated by actuator 426, and outside air damper 420 can beoperated by actuator 428. Actuators 424-428 may communicate with an AHUcontroller 430 via a communications link 432. Actuators 424-428 mayreceive control signals from AHU controller 430 and may provide feedbacksignals to AHU controller 430. Feedback signals can include, forexample, an indication of a current actuator or damper position, anamount of torque or force exerted by the actuator, diagnosticinformation (e.g., results of diagnostic tests performed by actuators424-428), status information, commissioning information, configurationsettings, calibration data, and/or other types of information or datathat can be collected, stored, or used by actuators 424-428. AHUcontroller 430 can be an economizer controller configured to use one ormore control algorithms (e.g., state-based algorithms, extremum seekingcontrol (ESC) algorithms, proportional-integral (PI) control algorithms,proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithms, modelpredictive control (MPC) algorithms, feedback control algorithms, etc.)to control actuators 424-428.

Still referring to FIG. 4, AHU 304 is shown to include a cooling coil434, a heating coil 436, and a fan 438 positioned within supply air duct412. Fan 438 can be configured to force supply air 410 through coolingcoil 434 and/or heating coil 436 and provide supply air 410 to buildingzone 406. AHU controller 430 may communicate with fan 438 viacommunications link 440 to control a flow rate of supply air 410. Insome embodiments, AHU controller 430 controls an amount of heating orcooling applied to supply air 410 by modulating a speed of fan 438.

Cooling coil 434 may receive a chilled fluid from waterside system 300(e.g., from cold water loop 316) via piping 442 and may return thechilled fluid to waterside system 300 via piping 444. Valve 446 can bepositioned along piping 442 or piping 444 to control a flow rate of thechilled fluid through cooling coil 434. In some embodiments, coolingcoil 434 includes multiple stages of cooling coils that can beindependently activated and deactivated (e.g., by AHU controller 430, byBMS controller 466, etc.) to modulate an amount of cooling applied tosupply air 410.

Heating coil 436 may receive a heated fluid from waterside system 300(e.g., from hot water loop 314) via piping 448 and may return the heatedfluid to waterside system 300 via piping 450. Valve 452 can bepositioned along piping 448 or piping 450 to control a flow rate of theheated fluid through heating coil 436. In some embodiments, heating coil436 includes multiple stages of heating coils that can be independentlyactivated and deactivated (e.g., by AHU controller 430, by BMScontroller 466, etc.) to modulate an amount of heating applied to supplyair 410.

Each of valves 446 and 452 can be controlled by an actuator. Forexample, valve 446 can be controlled by actuator 454 and valve 452 canbe controlled by actuator 456. Actuators 454-456 may communicate withAHU controller 430 via communications links 458-460. Actuators 454-456may receive control signals from AHU controller 430 and may providefeedback signals to controller 430. In some embodiments, AHU controller430 receives a measurement of the supply air temperature from atemperature sensor 462 positioned in supply air duct 412 (e.g.,downstream of cooling coil 434 and/or heating coil 436). AHU controller430 may also receive a measurement of the temperature of building zone406 from a temperature sensor 464 located in building zone 406.

In some embodiments, AHU controller 430 operates valves 446 and 452 viaactuators 454-456 to modulate an amount of heating or cooling providedto supply air 410 (e.g., to achieve a setpoint temperature for supplyair 410 or to maintain the temperature of supply air 410 within asetpoint temperature range). The positions of valves 446 and 452 affectthe amount of heating or cooling provided to supply air 410 by coolingcoil 434 or heating coil 436 and may correlate with the amount of energyconsumed to achieve a desired supply air temperature. AHU 430 maycontrol the temperature of supply air 410 and/or building zone 406 byactivating or deactivating coils 434-436, adjusting a speed of fan 438,or a combination of both.

Still referring to FIG. 4, airside system 400 is shown to include abuilding management system (BMS) controller 466 and a client device 468.BMS controller 466 can include one or more computer systems (e.g.,servers, supervisory controllers, subsystem controllers, etc.) thatserve as system level controllers, application or data servers, headnodes, or master controllers for airside system 400, waterside system300, HVAC system 200, and/or other controllable systems that servebuilding 10. BMS controller 466 may communicate with multiple downstreambuilding systems or subsystems (e.g., HVAC system 200, a securitysystem, a lighting system, waterside system 300, etc.) via acommunications link 470 according to like or disparate protocols (e.g.,LON, BACnet, etc.). In various embodiments, AHU controller 430 and BMScontroller 466 can be separate (as shown in FIG. 4) or integrated. In anintegrated implementation, AHU controller 430 can be a software moduleconfigured for execution by a processor of BMS controller 466.

In some embodiments, AHU controller 430 receives information from BMScontroller 466 (e.g., commands, setpoints, operating boundaries, etc.)and provides information to BMS controller 466 (e.g., temperaturemeasurements, valve or actuator positions, operating statuses,diagnostics, etc.). For example, AHU controller 430 may provide BMScontroller 466 with temperature measurements from temperature sensors462-464, equipment on/off states, equipment operating capacities, and/orany other information that can be used by BMS controller 466 to monitoror control a variable state or condition within building zone 406.

Client device 468 can include one or more human-machine interfaces orclient interfaces (e.g., graphical user interfaces, reportinginterfaces, text-based computer interfaces, client-facing web services,web servers that provide pages to web clients, etc.) for controlling,viewing, or otherwise interacting with HVAC system 200, its subsystems,and/or devices. Client device 468 can be a computer workstation, aclient terminal, a remote or local interface, or any other type of userinterface device. Client device 468 can be a stationary terminal or amobile device. For example, client device 468 can be a desktop computer,a computer server with a user interface, a laptop computer, a tablet, asmartphone, a PDA, or any other type of mobile or non-mobile device.Client device 468 may communicate with BMS controller 466 and/or AHUcontroller 430 via communications link 472.

Building Management System

Referring now to FIG. 5, a block diagram of a building management system(BMS) 500 is shown, according to some embodiments. BMS 500 can beimplemented in building 10 to automatically monitor and control variousbuilding functions. BMS 500 is shown to include BMS controller 466 and aplurality of building subsystems 528. Building subsystems 528 are shownto include a building electrical subsystem 534, an informationcommunication technology (ICT) subsystem 536, a security subsystem 538,a HVAC subsystem 540, a lighting subsystem 542, a lift/escalatorssubsystem 532, and a fire safety subsystem 530. In various embodiments,building subsystems 528 can include fewer, additional, or alternativesubsystems. For example, building subsystems 528 may also oralternatively include a refrigeration subsystem, an advertising orsignage subsystem, a cooking subsystem, a vending subsystem, a printeror copy service subsystem, or any other type of building subsystem thatuses controllable equipment and/or sensors to monitor or controlbuilding 10. In some embodiments, building subsystems 528 includewaterside system 300 and/or airside system 400, as described withreference to FIGS. 3-4.

Each of building subsystems 528 can include any number of devices (e.g.,IoT devices), sensors, controllers, and connections for completing itsindividual functions and control activities. HVAC subsystem 540 caninclude many of the same components as HVAC system 200, as describedwith reference to FIGS. 2-4. For example, HVAC subsystem 540 can includea chiller, a boiler, any number of air handling units, economizers,field controllers, supervisory controllers, actuators, temperaturesensors, and other devices for controlling the temperature, humidity,airflow, or other variable conditions within building 10. Lightingsubsystem 542 can include any number of light fixtures, ballasts,lighting sensors, dimmers, or other devices configured to controllablyadjust the amount of light provided to a building space. Securitysubsystem 538 can include occupancy sensors, video surveillance cameras,digital video recorders, video processing servers, intrusion detectiondevices, access control devices and servers, or other security-relateddevices.

Still referring to FIG. 5, BMS controller 466 is shown to include acommunications interface 507 and a BMS interface 509. Interface 507 mayfacilitate communications between BMS controller 466 and externalapplications (e.g., monitoring and reporting applications 522,enterprise control applications 526, remote systems and applications544, applications residing on client devices 548, etc.) for allowinguser control, monitoring, and adjustment to BMS controller 466 and/orsubsystems 528. Interface 507 may also facilitate communications betweenBMS controller 466 and client devices 548. BMS interface 509 mayfacilitate communications between BMS controller 466 and buildingsubsystems 528 (e.g., HVAC, lighting security, lifts, powerdistribution, business, etc.).

Interfaces 507, 509 can be or include wired or wireless communicationsinterfaces (e.g., jacks, antennas, transmitters, receivers,transceivers, wire terminals, etc.) for conducting data communicationswith building subsystems 528 or other external systems or devices. Invarious embodiments, communications via interfaces 507, 509 can bedirect (e.g., local wired or wireless communications) or via acommunications network 546 (e.g., a WAN, the Internet, a cellularnetwork, etc.). For example, interfaces 507, 509 can include an Ethernetcard and port for sending and receiving data via an Ethernet-basedcommunications link or network. In another example, interfaces 507, 509can include a Wi-Fi transceiver for communicating via a wirelesscommunications network. In another example, one or both of interfaces507, 509 can include cellular or mobile phone communicationstransceivers. In one embodiment, communications interface 507 is a powerline communications interface and BMS interface 509 is an Ethernetinterface. In other embodiments, both communications interface 507 andBMS interface 509 are Ethernet interfaces or are the same Ethernetinterface.

Still referring to FIG. 5, BMS controller 466 is shown to include aprocessing circuit 504 including a processor 506 and memory 508.Processing circuit 504 can be communicably connected to BMS interface509 and/or communications interface 507 such that processing circuit 504and the various components thereof can send and receive data viainterfaces 507, 509. Processor 506 can be implemented as a generalpurpose processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), a group ofprocessing components, or other suitable electronic processingcomponents.

Memory 508 (e.g., memory, memory unit, storage device, etc.) can includeone or more devices (e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash memory, hard disk storage,etc.) for storing data and/or computer code for completing orfacilitating the various processes, layers and modules described in thepresent application. Memory 508 can be or include volatile memory ornon-volatile memory. Memory 508 can include database components, objectcode components, script components, or any other type of informationstructure for supporting the various activities and informationstructures described in the present application. According to someembodiments, memory 508 is communicably connected to processor 506 viaprocessing circuit 504 and includes computer code for executing (e.g.,by processing circuit 504 and/or processor 506) one or more processesdescribed herein.

In some embodiments, BMS controller 466 is implemented within a singlecomputer (e.g., one server, one housing, etc.). In various otherembodiments BMS controller 466 can be distributed across multipleservers or computers (e.g., that can exist in distributed locations).Further, while FIG. 4 shows applications 522 and 526 as existing outsideof BMS controller 466, in some embodiments, applications 522 and 526 canbe hosted within BMS controller 466 (e.g., within memory 508).

Still referring to FIG. 5, memory 508 is shown to include an enterpriseintegration layer 510, an automated measurement and validation (AM&V)layer 512, a demand response (DR) layer 514, a fault detection anddiagnostics (FDD) layer 516, an integrated control layer 518, and abuilding subsystem integration later 520. Layers 510-520 can beconfigured to receive inputs from building subsystems 528 and other datasources, determine optimal control actions for building subsystems 528based on the inputs, generate control signals based on the optimalcontrol actions, and provide the generated control signals to buildingsubsystems 528. The following paragraphs describe some of the generalfunctions performed by each of layers 510-520 in BMS 500.

Enterprise integration layer 510 can be configured to serve clients orlocal applications with information and services to support a variety ofenterprise-level applications. For example, enterprise controlapplications 526 can be configured to provide subsystem-spanning controlto a graphical user interface (GUI) or to any number of enterprise-levelbusiness applications (e.g., accounting systems, user identificationsystems, etc.). Enterprise control applications 526 may also oralternatively be configured to provide configuration GUIs forconfiguring BMS controller 466. In yet other embodiments, enterprisecontrol applications 526 can work with layers 510-520 to optimizebuilding performance (e.g., efficiency, energy use, comfort, or safety)based on inputs received at interface 507 and/or BMS interface 509.

Building subsystem integration layer 520 can be configured to managecommunications between BMS controller 466 and building subsystems 528.For example, building subsystem integration layer 520 may receive sensordata and input signals from building subsystems 528 and provide outputdata and control signals to building subsystems 528. Building subsystemintegration layer 520 may also be configured to manage communicationsbetween building subsystems 528. Building subsystem integration layer520 translates communications (e.g., sensor data, input signals, outputsignals, etc.) across a plurality of multi-vendor/multi-protocolsystems.

Demand response layer 514 can be configured to determine (e.g.,optimize) resource usage (e.g., electricity use, natural gas use, wateruse, etc.) and/or the monetary cost of such resource usage to satisfythe demand of building 10. The resource usage determination can be basedon time-of-use prices, curtailment signals, energy availability, orother data received from utility providers, distributed energygeneration systems 524, energy storage 527 (e.g., hot TES 342, cold TES344, etc.), or from other sources. Demand response layer 514 may receiveinputs from other layers of BMS controller 466 (e.g., building subsystemintegration layer 520, integrated control layer 518, etc.). The inputsreceived from other layers can include environmental or sensor inputssuch as temperature, carbon dioxide levels, relative humidity levels,air quality sensor outputs, occupancy sensor outputs, room schedules,and the like. The inputs may also include inputs such as electrical use(e.g., expressed in kWh), thermal load measurements, pricinginformation, projected pricing, smoothed pricing, curtailment signalsfrom utilities, and the like.

According to some embodiments, demand response layer 514 includescontrol logic for responding to the data and signals it receives. Theseresponses can include communicating with the control algorithms inintegrated control layer 518, changing control strategies, changingsetpoints, or activating/deactivating building equipment or subsystemsin a controlled manner. Demand response layer 514 may also includecontrol logic configured to determine when to utilize stored energy. Forexample, demand response layer 514 may determine to begin using energyfrom energy storage 527 just prior to the beginning of a peak use hour.

In some embodiments, demand response layer 514 includes a control moduleconfigured to actively initiate control actions (e.g., automaticallychanging setpoints) which reduce (e.g., minimize) energy costs based onone or more inputs representative of or based on demand (e.g., price, acurtailment signal, a demand level, etc.). In some embodiments, demandresponse layer 514 uses equipment models to determine an optimal set ofcontrol actions. The equipment models can include, for example,thermodynamic models describing the inputs, outputs, and/or functionsperformed by various sets of building equipment. Equipment models mayrepresent collections of building equipment (e.g., subplants, chillerarrays, etc.) or individual devices (e.g., individual chillers, heaters,pumps, etc.).

Demand response layer 514 may further include or draw upon one or moredemand response policy definitions (e.g., databases, XML, files, etc.).The policy definitions can be edited or adjusted by a user (e.g., via agraphical user interface) so that the control actions initiated inresponse to demand inputs can be tailored for the user's application,desired comfort level, particular building equipment, or based on otherconcerns. For example, the demand response policy definitions canspecify which equipment can be turned on or off in response toparticular demand inputs, how long a system or piece of equipment shouldbe turned off, what setpoints can be changed, what the allowable setpoint adjustment range is, how long to hold a high demand setpointbefore returning to a normally scheduled setpoint, how close to approachcapacity limits, which equipment modes to utilize, the energy transferrates (e.g., the maximum rate, an alarm rate, other rate boundaryinformation, etc.) into and out of energy storage devices (e.g., thermalstorage tanks, battery banks, etc.), and when to dispatch on-sitegeneration of energy (e.g., via fuel cells, a motor generator set,etc.).

Integrated control layer 518 can be configured to use the data input oroutput of building subsystem integration layer 520 and/or demandresponse later 514 to make control decisions. Due to the subsystemintegration provided by building subsystem integration layer 520,integrated control layer 518 can integrate control activities of thesubsystems 528 such that the subsystems 528 behave as a singleintegrated supersystem. In some embodiments, integrated control layer518 includes control logic that uses inputs and outputs from a pluralityof building subsystems to provide greater comfort and energy savingsrelative to the comfort and energy savings that separate subsystemscould provide alone. For example, integrated control layer 518 can beconfigured to use an input from a first subsystem to make anenergy-saving control decision for a second subsystem. Results of thesedecisions can be communicated back to building subsystem integrationlayer 520.

Integrated control layer 518 is shown to be logically below demandresponse layer 514. Integrated control layer 518 can be configured toenhance the effectiveness of demand response layer 514 by enablingbuilding subsystems 528 and their respective control loops to becontrolled in coordination with demand response layer 514. Thisconfiguration may advantageously reduce disruptive demand responsebehavior relative to conventional systems. For example, integratedcontrol layer 518 can be configured to assure that a demandresponse-driven upward adjustment to the setpoint for chilled watertemperature (or another component that directly or indirectly affectstemperature) does not result in an increase in fan energy (or otherenergy used to cool a space) that would result in greater total buildingenergy use than was saved at the chiller.

Integrated control layer 518 can be configured to provide feedback todemand response layer 514 so that demand response layer 514 checks thatconstraints (e.g., temperature, lighting levels, etc.) are properlymaintained even while demanded load shedding is in progress. Theconstraints may also include setpoint or sensed boundaries relating tosafety, equipment operating limits and performance, comfort, fire codes,electrical codes, energy codes, and the like. Integrated control layer518 is also logically below fault detection and diagnostics layer 516and automated measurement and validation layer 512. Integrated controllayer 518 can be configured to provide calculated inputs (e.g.,aggregations) to these higher levels based on outputs from more than onebuilding subsystem.

Automated measurement and validation (AM&V) layer 512 can be configuredto verify that control strategies commanded by integrated control layer518 or demand response layer 514 are working properly (e.g., using dataaggregated by AM&V layer 512, integrated control layer 518, buildingsubsystem integration layer 520, FDD layer 516, or otherwise). Thecalculations made by AM&V layer 512 can be based on building systemenergy models and/or equipment models for individual BMS devices orsubsystems. For example, AM&V layer 512 may compare a model-predictedoutput with an actual output from building subsystems 528 to determinean accuracy of the model.

Fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) layer 516 can be configured toprovide on-going fault detection for building subsystems 528, buildingsubsystem devices (i.e., building equipment), and control algorithmsused by demand response layer 514 and integrated control layer 518. FDDlayer 516 may receive data inputs from integrated control layer 518,directly from one or more building subsystems or devices, or fromanother data source. FDD layer 516 may automatically diagnose andrespond to detected faults. The responses to detected or diagnosedfaults can include providing an alert message to a user, a maintenancescheduling system, or a control algorithm configured to attempt torepair the fault or to work-around the fault.

FDD layer 516 can be configured to output a specific identification ofthe faulty component or cause of the fault (e.g., loose damper linkage)using detailed subsystem inputs available at building subsystemintegration layer 520. In other exemplary embodiments, FDD layer 516 isconfigured to provide “fault” events to integrated control layer 518which executes control strategies and policies in response to thereceived fault events. According to some embodiments, FDD layer 516 (ora policy executed by an integrated control engine or business rulesengine) may shut-down systems or direct control activities around faultydevices or systems to reduce energy waste, extend equipment life, orassure proper control response.

FDD layer 516 can be configured to store or access a variety ofdifferent system data stores (or data points for live data). FDD layer516 may use some content of the data stores to identify faults at theequipment level (e.g., specific chiller, specific AHU, specific terminalunit, etc.) and other content to identify faults at component orsubsystem levels. For example, building subsystems 528 may generatetemporal (i.e., time-series) data indicating the performance of BMS 500and the various components thereof. The data generated by buildingsubsystems 528 can include measured or calculated values that exhibitstatistical characteristics and provide information about how thecorresponding system or process (e.g., a temperature control process, aflow control process, etc.) is performing in terms of error from itssetpoint. These processes can be examined by FDD layer 516 to exposewhen the system begins to degrade in performance and alert a user torepair the fault before it becomes more severe.

Building Management System with Cloud Building Management Platform

Referring now to FIG. 6, a block diagram of another building managementsystem (BMS) 600 is shown, according to some embodiments. BMS 600 can beconfigured to collect data samples from building subsystems 528 andprovide the data samples to Cloud building management platform 620 togenerate raw timeseries data, derived timeseries data, and/or entitydata from the data samples. In some embodiments, Cloud buildingmanagement platform 620 may supplement or replace building managementplatform 102 shown in FIG. 1 or can be implemented separate frombuilding management platform 102. Cloud building management platform 620can process and transform the raw timeseries data to generate derivedtimeseries data. Throughout this disclosure, the term “derivedtimeseries data” is used to describe the result or output of atransformation or other timeseries processing operation performed byvarious services of the building management platform 620 (e.g., dataaggregation, data cleansing, virtual point calculation, etc.). The term“entity data” is used to describe the attributes of various smartentities (e.g., IoT systems, devices, components, sensors, and the like)and the relationships between the smart entities. The derived timeseriesdata can be provided to various applications 630 and/or stored instorage 614 (e.g., as materialized views of the raw timeseries data). Insome embodiments, Cloud building management platform 620 separates datacollection; data storage, retrieval, and analysis; and datavisualization into three different layers. This allows Cloud buildingmanagement platform 620 to support a variety of applications 630 thatuse the derived timeseries data and allows new applications 630 to reusethe existing infrastructure provided by Cloud building managementplatform 620.

It should be noted that the components of BMS 600 and/or Cloud buildingmanagement platform 620 can be integrated within a single device (e.g.,a supervisory controller, a BMS controller, etc.) or distributed acrossmultiple separate systems or devices. In other embodiments, some or allof the components of BMS 600 and/or Cloud building management platform620 can be implemented as part of a cloud-based computing systemconfigured to receive and process data from one or more buildingmanagement systems. In other embodiments, some or all of the componentsof BMS 600 and/or Cloud building management platform 620 can becomponents of a subsystem level controller (e.g., a HVAC controller), asubplant controller, a device controller (e.g., AHU controller 330, achiller controller, etc.), a field controller, a computer workstation, aclient device, or any other system or device that receives and processesdata from building systems and equipment.

BMS 600 can include many of the same components as BMS 500, as describedwith reference to FIG. 5. For example, BMS 600 is shown to include a BMSinterface 602 and a communications interface 604. Interfaces 602-604 caninclude wired or wireless communications interfaces (e.g., jacks,antennas, transmitters, receivers, transceivers, wire terminals, etc.)for conducting data communications with building subsystems 528 or otherexternal systems or devices. Communications conducted via interfaces602-604 can be direct (e.g., local wired or wireless communications) orvia a communications network 546 (e.g., a WAN, the Internet, a cellularnetwork, etc.).

Communications interface 604 can facilitate communications between BMS600 and external applications (e.g., remote systems and applications544) for allowing user control, monitoring, and adjustment to BMS 600.Communications interface 604 can also facilitate communications betweenBMS 600 and client devices 548. BMS interface 602 can facilitatecommunications between BMS 600 and building subsystems 528. BMS 600 canbe configured to communicate with building subsystems 528 using any of avariety of building automation systems protocols (e.g., BACnet, Modbus,ADX, etc.). In some embodiments, BMS 600 receives data samples frombuilding subsystems 528 and provides control signals to buildingsubsystems 528 via BMS interface 602.

Building subsystems 528 can include building electrical subsystem 534,information communication technology (ICT) subsystem 536, securitysubsystem 538, HVAC subsystem 540, lighting subsystem 542,lift/escalators subsystem 532, and/or fire safety subsystem 530, asdescribed with reference to FIG. 5. In various embodiments, buildingsubsystems 528 can include fewer, additional, or alternative subsystems.For example, building subsystems 528 can also or alternatively include arefrigeration subsystem, an advertising or signage subsystem, a cookingsubsystem, a vending subsystem, a printer or copy service subsystem, orany other type of building subsystem that uses controllable equipmentand/or sensors to monitor or control building 10. In some embodiments,building subsystems 528 include waterside system 300 and/or airsidesystem 400, as described with reference to FIGS. 3-4. Each of buildingsubsystems 528 can include any number of devices, controllers, andconnections for completing its individual functions and controlactivities. Building subsystems 528 can include building equipment(e.g., sensors, air handling units, chillers, pumps, valves, etc.)configured to monitor and control a building condition such astemperature, humidity, airflow, etc.

Still referring to FIG. 6, BMS 600 is shown to include a processingcircuit 606 including a processor 608 and memory 610. Cloud buildingmanagement platform may include one or more processing circuitsincluding one or more processors and memory. Each of the processor canbe a general purpose or specific purpose processor, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), one or more field programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), a group of processing components, or other suitableprocessing components. Each of the processors is configured to executecomputer code or instructions stored in memory or received from othercomputer readable media (e.g., CDROM, network storage, a remote server,etc.).

Memory can include one or more devices (e.g., memory units, memorydevices, storage devices, etc.) for storing data and/or computer codefor completing and/or facilitating the various processes described inthe present disclosure. Memory can include random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), hard drive storage, temporary storage,non-volatile memory, flash memory, optical memory, or any other suitablememory for storing software objects and/or computer instructions. Memorycan include database components, object code components, scriptcomponents, or any other type of information structure for supportingthe various activities and information structures described in thepresent disclosure. Memory can be communicably connected to theprocessors via the processing circuits and can include computer code forexecuting (e.g., by processor 508) one or more processes describedherein.

Still referring to FIG. 6, Cloud building management platform 620 isshown to include a data collector 612. Data collector 612 is shownreceiving data samples from building subsystems 528 via BMS interface602. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and thedata collector 612 may receive the data samples directly from thebuilding subsystems 528 (e.g., via network 546 or via any suitablemethod). In some embodiments, the data samples include data values forvarious data points. The data values can be measured or calculatedvalues, depending on the type of data point. For example, a data pointreceived from a temperature sensor can include a measured data valueindicating a temperature measured by the temperature sensor. A datapoint received from a chiller controller can include a calculated datavalue indicating a calculated efficiency of the chiller. Data collector612 can receive data samples from multiple different devices (e.g., IoTdevices, sensors, etc.) within building subsystems 528.

The data samples can include one or more attributes that describe orcharacterize the corresponding data points. For example, the datasamples can include a name attribute defining a point name or ID (e.g.,“B1F4R2.T-Z”), a device attribute indicating a type of device from whichthe data samples is received (e.g., temperature sensor, humidity sensor,chiller, etc.), a unit attribute defining a unit of measure associatedwith the data value (e.g., ° F., ° C., kPA, etc.), and/or any otherattribute that describes the corresponding data point or providescontextual information regarding the data point. The types of attributesincluded in each data point can depend on the communications protocolused to send the data samples to BMS 600 and/or Cloud buildingmanagement platform 620. For example, data samples received via the ADXprotocol or BACnet protocol can include a variety of descriptiveattributes along with the data value, whereas data samples received viathe Modbus protocol may include a lesser number of attributes (e.g.,only the data value without any corresponding attributes).

In some embodiments, each data sample is received with a timestampindicating a time at which the corresponding data value was measured orcalculated. In other embodiments, data collector 612 adds timestamps tothe data samples based on the times at which the data samples arereceived. Data collector 612 can generate raw timeseries data for eachof the data points for which data samples are received. Each timeseriescan include a series of data values for the same data point and atimestamp for each of the data values. For example, a timeseries for adata point provided by a temperature sensor can include a series oftemperature values measured by the temperature sensor and thecorresponding times at which the temperature values were measured. Anexample of a timeseries which can be generated by data collector 612 isas follows:

-   -   [<key, timestamp₁, value₁>, <key, timestamp₂, value₂>, <key,        timestamp₃, value₃>]        where key is an identifier of the source of the raw data samples        (e.g., timeseries ID, sensor ID, device ID, etc.), timestamp        identifies the time at which the ith sample was collected, and        value_(r) indicates the value of the ith sample.

Data collector 612 can add timestamps to the data samples or modifyexisting timestamps such that each data sample includes a localtimestamp. Each local timestamp indicates the local time at which thecorresponding data sample was measured or collected and can include anoffset relative to universal time. The local timestamp indicates thelocal time at the location the data point was measured at the time ofmeasurement. The offset indicates the difference between the local timeand a universal time (e.g., the time at the international date line).For example, a data sample collected in a time zone that is six hoursbehind universal time can include a local timestamp (e.g.,Timestamp=2016-03-18T14: 10:02) and an offset indicating that the localtimestamp is six hours behind universal time (e.g., Offset=−6:00). Theoffset can be adjusted (e.g., +1:00 or −1:00) depending on whether thetime zone is in daylight savings time when the data sample is measuredor collected.

The combination of the local timestamp and the offset provides a uniquetimestamp across daylight saving time boundaries. This allows anapplication using the timeseries data to display the timeseries data inlocal time without first converting from universal time. The combinationof the local timestamp and the offset also provides enough informationto convert the local timestamp to universal time without needing to lookup a schedule of when daylight savings time occurs. For example, theoffset can be subtracted from the local timestamp to generate auniversal time value that corresponds to the local timestamp withoutreferencing an external database and without requiring any otherinformation.

In some embodiments, data collector 612 organizes the raw timeseriesdata. Data collector 612 can identify a system or device associated witheach of the data points. For example, data collector 612 can associate adata point with a temperature sensor, an air handler, a chiller, or anyother type of system or device. In some embodiments, a data entity maybe created for the data point, in which case, the data collector 612(e.g., via entity service) can associate the data point with the dataentity. In various embodiments, data collector uses the name of the datapoint, a range of values of the data point, statistical characteristicsof the data point, or other attributes of the data point to identify aparticular system or device associated with the data point. Datacollector 612 can then determine how that system or device relates tothe other systems or devices in the building site from entity data. Forexample, data collector 612 can determine that the identified system ordevice is part of a larger system (e.g., a HVAC system) or serves aparticular space (e.g., a particular building, a room or zone of thebuilding, etc.) from the entity data. In some embodiments, datacollector 512 uses or retrieves an entity graph (e.g., via entityservice 626) when organizing the timeseries data.

Data collector 612 can provide the raw timeseries data to the servicesof Cloud building management platform 620 and/or store the rawtimeseries data in storage 614. Storage 614 may be internal storage orexternal storage. For example, storage 614 can be internal storage withrelation to Cloud building management platform 620 and/or BMS 600,and/or may include a remote database, cloud-based data hosting, or otherremote data storage. Storage 614 can be configured to store the rawtimeseries data obtained by data collector 612, the derived timeseriesdata generated by Cloud building management platform 620, and/ordirected acyclic graphs (DAGs) used by Cloud building managementplatform 620 to process the timeseries data.

Still referring to FIG. 5, Cloud building management platform 620 canreceive the raw timeseries data from data collector 612 and/or retrievethe raw timeseries data from storage 614. Cloud building managementplatform 620 can include a variety of services configured to analyze,process, and transform the raw timeseries data. For example, Cloudbuilding management platform 620 is shown to include a security service622, an analytics service 624, an entity service 626, and a timeseriesservice 628. Security service 622 can assign security attributes to theraw timeseries data to ensure that the timeseries data are onlyaccessible to authorized individuals, systems, or applications. Securityservice 622 may include a messaging layer to exchange secure messageswith the entity service 626. In some embodiment, security service 622may provide permission data to entity service 626 so that entity service626 can determine the types of entity data that can be accessed by aparticular entity or device. Entity service 624 can assign entityinformation (or entity data) to the timeseries data to associate datapoints with a particular system, device, or space. Timeseries service628 and analytics service 624 can apply various transformations,operations, or other functions to the raw timeseries data to generatederived timeseries data.

In some embodiments, timeseries service 628 aggregates predefinedintervals of the raw timeseries data (e.g., quarter-hourly intervals,hourly intervals, daily intervals, monthly intervals, etc.) to generatenew derived timeseries of the aggregated values. These derivedtimeseries can be referred to as “data rollups” since they are condensedversions of the raw timeseries data. The data rollups generated bytimeseries service 628 provide an efficient mechanism for applications630 to query the timeseries data. For example, applications 630 canconstruct visualizations of the timeseries data (e.g., charts, graphs,etc.) using the pre-aggregated data rollups instead of the rawtimeseries data. This allows applications 630 to simply retrieve andpresent the pre-aggregated data rollups without requiring applications630 to perform an aggregation in response to the query. Since the datarollups are pre-aggregated, applications 630 can present the datarollups quickly and efficiently without requiring additional processingat query time to generate aggregated timeseries values.

In some embodiments, timeseries service 628 calculates virtual pointsbased on the raw timeseries data and/or the derived timeseries data.Virtual points can be calculated by applying any of a variety ofmathematical operations (e.g., addition, subtraction, multiplication,division, etc.) or functions (e.g., average value, maximum value,minimum value, thermodynamic functions, linear functions, nonlinearfunctions, etc.) to the actual data points represented by the timeseriesdata. For example, timeseries service 628 can calculate a virtual datapoint (pointID₃) by adding two or more actual data points (pointID₁ andpointID₂) (e.g., pointID₃=pointID₁+pointID₂). As another example,timeseries service 628 can calculate an enthalpy data point (pointID₄)based on a measured temperature data point (pointID₅) and a measuredpressure data point (pointID₆) (e.g., pointID₄=enthalpy(pointID₅,pointID₆)). The virtual data points can be stored as derived timeseriesdata.

Applications 630 can access and use the virtual data points in the samemanner as the actual data points. Applications 630 may not need to knowwhether a data point is an actual data point or a virtual data pointsince both types of data points can be stored as derived timeseries dataand can be handled in the same manner by applications 630. In someembodiments, the derived timeseries are stored with attributesdesignating each data point as either a virtual data point or an actualdata point. Such attributes allow applications 630 to identify whether agiven timeseries represents a virtual data point or an actual datapoint, even though both types of data points can be handled in the samemanner by applications 630. These and other features of timeseriesservice 628 are described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 9.

In some embodiments, analytics service 624 analyzes the raw timeseriesdata and/or the derived timeseries data to detect faults. Analyticsservice 624 can apply a set of fault detection rules to the timeseriesdata to determine whether a fault is detected at each interval of thetimeseries. Fault detections can be stored as derived timeseries data.For example, analytics service 624 can generate a new fault detectiontimeseries with data values that indicate whether a fault was detectedat each interval of the timeseries. The fault detection timeseries canbe stored as derived timeseries data along with the raw timeseries datain storage 614.

Still referring to FIG. 6, BMS 600 is shown to include severalapplications 630 including an energy management application 632,monitoring and reporting applications 634, and enterprise controlapplications 636. Although only a few applications 630 are shown, it iscontemplated that applications 630 can include any of a variety ofsuitable applications configured to use the raw or derived timeseriesgenerated by Cloud building management platform 620. In someembodiments, applications 630 exist as a separate layer of BMS 600(e.g., a part of Cloud building management platform 620 and/or datacollector 612). In other embodiments, applications 630 can exist asremote applications that run on remote systems or devices (e.g., remotesystems and applications 544, client devices 548, and/or the like).

Applications 630 can use the derived timeseries data to perform avariety data visualization, monitoring, and/or control activities. Forexample, energy management application 632 and monitoring and reportingapplication 634 can use the derived timeseries data to generate userinterfaces (e.g., charts, graphs, etc.) that present the derivedtimeseries data to a user. In some embodiments, the user interfacespresent the raw timeseries data and the derived data rollups in a singlechart or graph. For example, a dropdown selector can be provided toallow a user to select the raw timeseries data or any of the datarollups for a given data point.

Enterprise control application 636 can use the derived timeseries datato perform various control activities. For example, enterprise controlapplication 636 can use the derived timeseries data as input to acontrol algorithm (e.g., a state-based algorithm, an extremum seekingcontrol (ESC) algorithm, a proportional-integral (PI) control algorithm,a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithm, a modelpredictive control (MPC) algorithm, a feedback control algorithm, etc.)to generate control signals for building subsystems 528. In someembodiments, building subsystems 528 use the control signals to operatebuilding equipment. Operating the building equipment can affect themeasured or calculated values of the data samples provided to BMS 600and/or Cloud building management platform 620. Accordingly, enterprisecontrol application 636 can use the derived timeseries data as feedbackto control the systems and devices of building subsystems 528.

Cloud Building Management Platform Entity Service

Referring now to FIG. 7, a block diagram illustrating entity service 626in greater detail is shown, according to some embodiments. Entityservice 626 registers and manages various buildings (e.g., 110-140),spaces, persons, subsystems (e.g., 428), devices (e.g., 112-146), andother entities in the Cloud building management platform 620. Accordingto various embodiments, an entity may be any person, place, or physicalobject, hereafter referred to as an object entity. Further, an entitymay be any event, data point, or record structure, hereinafter referredto as data entity. In addition, relationships between entities may bedefined by relational objects.

In some embodiments, an object entity may be defined as having at leastthree types of attributes. For example, an object entity may have astatic attribute, a dynamic attribute, and a behavioral attribute. Thestatic attribute may include any unique identifier of the object entityor characteristic of the object entity that either does not change overtime or changes infrequently (e.g., a device ID, a person's name orsocial security number, a place's address or room number, and the like).The dynamic attribute may include a property of the object entity thatchanges over time (e.g., location, age, measurement, data point, and thelike). In some embodiments, the dynamic attribute of an object entitymay be linked to a data entity. In this case, the dynamic attribute ofthe object entity may simply refer to a location (e.g., data/networkaddress) or static attribute (e.g., identifier) of the linked dataentity, which may store the data (e.g., the value or information) of thedynamic attribute. Accordingly, in some such embodiments, when a newdata point (e.g., timeseries data) is received for the object entity,only the linked data entity may be updated, while the object entityremains unchanged. Therefore, resources that would have been expended toupdate the object entity may be reduced.

However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, insome embodiments, there may also be some data that is updated (e.g.,during predetermined intervals) in the dynamic attribute of the objectentity itself. For example, the linked data entity may be configured tobe updated each time a new data point is received, whereas thecorresponding dynamic attribute of the object entity may be configuredto be updated less often (e.g., at predetermined intervals less than theintervals during which the new data points are received). In someimplementations, the dynamic attribute of the object entity may includeboth a link to the data entity and either a portion of the data from thedata entity or data derived from the data of the data entity. Forexample, in an embodiment in which periodic temperature readings arereceived from a thermostat, an object entity corresponding to thethermostat could include the last temperature reading and a link to adata entity that stores a series of the last ten temperature readingsreceived from the thermostat.

The behavioral attribute may define a function of the object entity, forexample, based on inputs, capabilities, and/or permissions. For example,behavioral attributes may define the types of inputs that the objectentity is configured to accept, how the object entity is expected torespond under certain conditions, the types of functions that the objectentity is capable of performing, and the like. As a non-limitingexample, if the object entity represents a person, the behavioralattribute of the person may be his/her job title or job duties, userpermissions to access certain systems or locations, expected location orbehavior given a time of day, tendencies or preferences based onconnected activity data received by entity service 626 (e.g., socialmedia activity), and the like. As another non-limiting example, if theobject entity represents a device, the behavioral attributes may includethe types of inputs that the device can receive, the types of outputsthat the device can generate, the types of controls that the device iscapable of, the types of software or versions that the device currentlyhas, known responses of the device to certain types of input (e.g.,behavior of the device defined by its programming), and the like.

In some embodiments, the data entity may be defined as having at least astatic attribute and a dynamic attribute. The static attribute of thedata entity may include a unique identifier or description of the dataentity. For example, if the data entity is linked to a dynamic attributeof an object entity, the static attribute of the data entity may includean identifier that is used to link to the dynamic attribute of theobject entity. In some embodiments, the dynamic attribute of the dataentity represents the data for the dynamic attribute of the linkedobject entity. In some embodiments, the dynamic attribute of the dataentity may represent some other data that is derived, analyzed,inferred, calculated, or determined based on data from a plurality ofdata sources.

In some embodiments, the relational object may be defined as having atleast a static attribute. The static attribute of the relational objectmay semantically define the type of relationship between two or moreentities. For example, in a non-limiting embodiment, a relational objectfor a relationship that semantically defines that Entity A has a part ofEntity B, or that Entity B is a part of Entity A may include:

hasPart{Entity A, Entity B}

where the static attribute hasPart defines what the relationship is ofthe listed entities, and the order of the listed entities or data fieldof the relational object specifies which entity is the part of the other(e.g., Entity A→hasPart→Entity B).

In various embodiments, the relational object is an object-orientedconstruct with predefined fields that define the relationship betweentwo or more entities, regardless of the type of entities. For example,Cloud building management platform 620 can provide a rich set ofpre-built entity models with standardized relational objects that can beused to describe how any two or more entities are semantically related,as well as how data is exchanged and/or processed between the entities.Accordingly, a global change to a definition or relationship of arelational object at the system level can be effected at the objectlevel, without having to manually change the entity relationships foreach object or entity individually. Further, in some embodiments, aglobal change at the system level can be propagated through tothird-party applications integrated with Cloud building managementplatform 620 such that the global change can be implemented across allof the third-party applications without requiring manual implementationof the change in each disparate application.

For example, referring to FIG. 8, an example entity graph of entity datais shown, according to some embodiments. The term “entity data” is usedto describe the attributes of various entities and the relationshipsbetween the entities. For example, entity data may be represented in theform of an entity graph. In some embodiments, entity data includes anysuitable predefined data models (e.g., as a table, JSON data, and/or thelike), such as entity type or object, and further includes one or morerelational objects that semantically define the relationships betweenthe entities. The relational objects may help to semantically define,for example, hierarchical or directed relationships between the entities(e.g., entity X controls entity Y, entity A feeds entity B, entity 1 islocated in entity 2, and the like). For example, an object entity (e.g.,IoT device) may be represented by entity type or object, which generallydescribes how data corresponding to the entity will be structured andstored.

For example, an entity type (or object) “Thermostat” may be representedvia the below schema:

Thermostat{

-   -   Type,    -   Model No,    -   Device Name,    -   Manufactured date,    -   Serial number,    -   MAC address,    -   Location,    -   Current air quality,    -   Current indoor temperature,    -   Current outdoor temperature,    -   Target indoor temperature,    -   Point schedule (e.g., BACnet schedule object)

}

where various attributes are static attributes (e.g., “Type,” “ModelNumber,” “Device Name,” etc.,), dynamic attributes (e.g., “Current airquality,” “Current outdoor temperature,” etc.), or behavioral attributes(e.g., “Target indoor temperature,” etc.) for the object entity“thermostat.” In a relational database, the object “Thermostat” is atable name, and the attributes represents column names.

An example of an object entity data model for a person named John Smithin a relational database may be represented by the below table:

First Last Name Name Tel. No. Age Location Job Title John Smith(213)220-XXXX 36 Home Engineerwhere various attributes are static attributes (e.g., “First Name,”“Last Name,” etc.,), dynamic attributes (e.g., “Age,” “Location,” etc.),or behavioral attributes (e.g., “Engineer”) for the object entity “JohnSmith.”

An example data entity for the data point “Current indoor temperature”for the “Thermostat” owned by John Smith in a relational database may berepresented by the below table:

Present- Device_ Unit of Value Description Type measure 68 “Currentindoor temperature Thermostat Degrees-F. of John's house”where various attributes are static attributes (e.g., “Description” and“Device Type”) and dynamic attributes (e.g., “Present-Value”).

While structuring the entities via entity type or object may help todefine the data representation of the entities, these data models do notprovide information on how the entities relate to each other. Forexample, a BMS, building subsystem, or device may need data from aplurality of sources as well as information on how the sources relate toeach other in order to provide a proper decision, action, orrecommendation. Accordingly, in various embodiments, the entity datafurther includes the relational objects to semantically define therelationships between the entities, which may help to increase speeds inanalyzing data, as well as provide ease of navigation and browsing.

For example, still referring to FIG. 8, an entity graph 800 for theThermostat object entity 802 includes various class entities (e.g.,User, Address, SetPoint Command, and Temperature Object), objectentities (e.g., John and Thermostat), relational objects (e.g.,isAKindOf, Owns, isLinked, hasStorage, and hasOperation), and dataentities (AI 201-01, TS ID 1, Daily Average 1, Abnormal indoor temp 1,AO 101-1, and Geo 301-01). The relational objects describe therelationships between the various class, object, and data entities in asemantic and syntactic manner, so that an application or user viewingthe entity graph 800 can quickly determine the relationships and dataprocess flow of the Thermostat object entity 802, without having toresort to a data base analyst or engineer to create, index, and/ormanage the entities (e.g., using SQL or NoSQL). In some embodiments,each of the entities (e.g., class entity, object entity, and dataentity) represents a node on the entity graph 800, and the relationalobjects define the relationships or connections between the entities (ornodes).

For example, the entity graph 800 shows that a person named John (objectentity) 804 isAKindOf (relational object) 806 User (class entity) 808.John 804 Owns (relational object) 810 the Thermostat (object entity)802. The Thermostat 802 has a location attribute (dynamic attribute) 812that isLinked (relational object) 814 to Geo 301-01 (data entity) 816,which isAKindOf (relational object) 818 an Address (class entity) 820.Accordingly, Geo 301-01 316 should have a data point corresponding to anaddress.

The Thermostat 802 further includes a “Current indoor temperature”attribute (dynamic attribute) 822 that isLinked (relational object) 824to AI 201-01 (data entity) 826. AI 201-01 826 isAKindOf (relationalobject) 828 Temperature Object (class entity) 830. Thus, AI 201-01 826should contain some sort of temperature related data. AI 201-01 826hasStorage (relational object) 832 at 0 ID 1 (data entity) 834, whichmay be raw or derived timeseries data for the temperature readings. AI201-01 826 hasOperation (relational object) 836 of Daily Average 1 (dataentity) 838, which isAKindOf (relational object) 840 Analytic Operator(class entity) 842. Thus, Daily Average 1 results from an analyticoperation that calculates the daily average of the indoor temperature.AI 201-01 826 further hasOperation (relational object) 854 of AbnormalIndoor Temperature (data entity) 856, which isAKindOf (relationalobject) 858 Analytic Operator (class entity) 860. Accordingly, AbnormalIndoor Temperature results from an analytic operation to determine anabnormal temperature (e.g., exceeds or falls below a threshold value).

In this example, the data entity AI 201-01 526 may be represented by thefollowing data model:

point {

-   -   name: “AI 201-01”;    -   type: “analog input”;    -   value: 72;    -   unit: “Degree-F”;    -   source: “Temperature Sensor 1”

}

where “point” is an example of a data entity that may be created byCloud building management platform 620 to hold the value for the linked“Current indoor temperature” 822 dynamic attribute of the Thermostatentity 802, and source is the sensor or device in the Thermostat devicethat provides the data to the linked “Current indoor temperature” 822dynamic attribute.

The data entity TS Id 1 534 may be represented, for example, by thefollowing data model:

timeseries {

-   -   name: “TS Id 1”;    -   type: “Daily Average”;    -   values: “[68, 20666, 70, 69, 71];    -   unit: “Degree-F”;    -   point: “AI 201-01”;    -   source: “Daily Average 1”

}

where the data entity Daily Average 1 838 represents a specific analyticoperator used to create the data entity for the average daily timeseriesTS Id 1 834 based on the values of the corresponding data entity forpoint AI 201-01 826. The relational object has Operation shows that theAI 201-01 data entity 826 is used as an input to the specific logic/mathoperation represented by Daily Average 1 838. TS Id 1 834 might alsoinclude an attribute that identifies the analytic operator Daily Average1 838 as the source of the data samples in the timeseries.

Still referring to FIG. 8, the entity graph 800 for Thermostat 802 showsthat the “Target indoor temperature” attribute (dynamic attribute) 844isLinked (relational attribute) 846 to the data entity AO 101-01 (dataentity) 848. AO 101-01 data entity 848 isAKindOf (relational attribute)850 SetPoint Command (class entity) 852. Thus, the data in data entityAO 101-01 848 may be set via a command by the user or other entity, andmay be used to control the Thermostat object entity 802. Accordingly, invarious embodiments, entity graph 800 provides a user friendly view ofthe various relationships between the entities and data processing flow,which provides for ease of navigation, browsing, and analysis of data.

In some embodiments, any two entities (or nodes) can be connected toeach other via one or more relational objects that define differentrelationships between the two entities (or nodes). For example, stillreferring to FIG. 8, the object entity John 804 is shown to be connectedto the object entity Thermostat 802 via one relational object Owns 810.However, in another embodiment, the object entity John 804 can beconnected to the object entity Thermostat 802 via more than onerelational object, such that, in addition to the relational object Owns810, another relational object can define another relationship betweenthe object entity John 804 and the object entity Activity Tracker 802.For example, another relational object such as isInZone or isNotInZonecan define whether or not John (or the entity object for John 804) iscurrently within the zone serviced by Thermostat 802 (e.g., via therelational object isInZone) or currently not within the zone serviced byThermostat 802 (e.g., via the relational object isNotInZone).

In this case, when the data entities associated with the thermostatobject entity 802 indicates that John is within the zone serviced bythermostat (e.g., which may be determined from the location attribute812 and location data for John 810), the relational object isInZone maybe created between the object entity for John 610 and the object entityfor thermostat 802. On the other hand, when the data entities associatedwith the thermostat object entity 802 indicates that John is not withinthe zone serviced by the thermostat (e.g., which may be determined whenthe location attribute 812 shows a different location from a knownlocation of John), the relational object isNotInZone can be createdbetween the object entity for John 810 and the object entity forthermostat 802. For example, the relational object isNotInZone can becreated by modifying the relational object isInZone or deleting therelational object isInZone and creating the relational objectisNotInZone. Thus, in some embodiments, the relational objects can bedynamically created, modified, or deleted as needed or desired.

Referring again to FIG. 7, entity service 626 may transforms raw datasamples and/or raw timeseries data into data corresponding to entitydata. For example, as discussed above with reference to FIG. 8, entityservice 626 can create data entities that use and/or represent datapoints in the timeseries data. Entity service 626 includes a web service702, a registration service 704, a management service 706, atransformation service 708, a search service 710, and storage 712. Insome embodiments, storage 712 may be internal storage or externalstorage. For example, storage 712 may be storage 614 (see FIG. 6),internal storage with relation to entity service 626, and/or may includea remote database, cloud-based data hosting, or other remote datastorage.

Web service 702 can be configured to interact with web-basedapplications to send entity data and/or receive raw data (e.g., datasamples, timeseries data, and the like). For example, web service 702can provide an interface (e.g., API, UI/UX, and the like) to manage(e.g., register, create, edit, delete, and/or update) an entity (e.g.,class entity, object entity, data entity, and/or the like) and therelational objects that define the relationships between the entities.In some embodiments, web service 702 provides entity data to web-basedapplications. For example, if one or more of applications 630 areweb-based applications, web service 702 can provide entity data to theweb-based applications. In some embodiments, web service 702 receivesraw data samples and/or raw timeseries data including device informationfrom a web-based data collector, or a web-based security service toidentify authorized entities and to exchange secured messages. Forexample, if data collector 612 is a web-based application, web service702 can receive the raw data samples and/or timeseries data including adevice attribute indicating a type of device (e.g., IoT device) fromwhich the data samples and/or timeseries data are received from datacollector 612. In some embodiments, web service 702 may message securityservice 622 to request authorization information and/or permissioninformation of a particular user, building, BMS, building subsystem,device, application, or other entity. In some embodiments, web service702 receives derived timeseries data from timeseries service 628, and/ormay provide entity data to timeseries service 628. In some embodiments,the entity service 626 processes and transforms the collected data togenerate the entity data.

The registration service 704 can perform registration of devices andentities. For example, registration service 704 can communicate withbuilding subsystems 528 and client devices 548 (e.g., via web service702) to register each entity (e.g., building, BMS, building subsystems,devices, and the like) with Cloud building management platform 620. Insome embodiments, registration service 704 registers a particularbuilding subsystem 528 (or the devices therein) with a specific userand/or a specific set of permissions and/or entitlements. For example, auser may register a device key and/or a device ID associated with thedevice via a web portal (e.g., web service 702). In some embodiments,the device ID and the device key may be unique to the device. The deviceID may be a unique number associated with the device such as a uniquealphanumeric string, a serial number of the device, and/or any otherstatic identifier. In various embodiments, the device is provisioned bya manufacturer and/or any other entity. In various embodiments, thedevice key and/or device ID are saved to the device or buildingsubsystem 528 based on whether the device includes a trusted platformmodule (TPM). If the device includes a TPM, the device or buildingsubsystem 528 may store the device key and/or device ID according to theprotocols of the TPM. If the device does not include a TPM, the deviceor building subsystem 528 may store the device key and/or device ID in afile and/or file field which may be stored in a secure storage location.Further, in some embodiments, the device ID may be stored with BIOSsoftware of the device. For example, a serial number of BIOS softwaremay become and/or may be updated with the device ID.

In various embodiments, the device key and/or the device ID are uploadedto registration service 704 (e.g., an IoT hub such as AZURE® IoT Hub).In some embodiments, registration service 704 is configured to store thedevice key and the device ID in secure permanent storage and/or may bestored by security service 622 (e.g., by a security API). In someembodiments, a manufacturer and/or any other individual may register thedevice key and the device ID with registration service 704 (e.g., viaweb service 702). In various embodiments, the device key and the deviceID are linked to a particular profile associated with the buildingsubsystem 528 or device and/or a particular user profile (e.g., aparticular user). In this regard, a device (or building subsystem 528)can be associated with a particular user. In various embodiments, thedevice key and the device ID make up the profile for device. The profilemay be registered as a device that has been manufactured and/orprovisioned but has not yet been purchased by an end user.

In various embodiments, registration service 704 adds and/or updates adevice in an building hub device registry. In various embodiments,registration service 704 may determine if the device is alreadyregistered, can set various authentication values (e.g., device ID,device key), and can update the building hub device registry. In asimilar manner, registration service 704 can update a document databasewith the various device registration information.

In some embodiments, registration service 704 can be configured tocreate a virtual representation (e.g., “digital twins” or “shadowrecords”) of each object entity (e.g., person, room, building subsystem,device, and the like) in the building within Cloud building managementplatform 620. In some embodiments, the virtual representations are smartentities that include attributes defining or characterizing thecorresponding object and are associated to the corresponding objectentity via relational objects defining the relationship of the objectand the smart entity representation thereof. In some embodiments, thevirtual representations maintain shadow copies of the object entitieswith versioning information so that entity service 626 can store notonly the most recent update of an attribute (e.g., a dynamic attribute)associated with the object, but records of previous states of theattributes (e.g., dynamic attributes) and/or entities. For example, theshadow record may be created as a type of data entity that is related toa linked data entity corresponding to the dynamic attribute of theobject entity (e.g., the person, room, building subsystem, device, andthe like). For example, the shadow entity may be associated with thelinked data entity via a relational object (e.g., isLinked, hasStorage,hasOperation, and the like). In this case, the shadow entity may be usedto determine additional analytics for the data point of the dynamicattribute. For example, the shadow entity may be used to determine anaverage value, an expected value, or an abnormal value of the data pointfrom the dynamic attribute.

Management service 706 may create, modify, or update various attributes,data entities, and/or relational objects of the objects managed byentity service 626 for each entity rather than per class or type ofentity. This allows for separate processing/analytics for eachindividual entity rather than only to a class or type of entity. Someattributes (or data entities) may correspond to, for example, the mostrecent value of a data point provided to BMS 600 or Cloud buildingmanagement platform 620 via the raw data samples and/or timeseries data.For example, the “Current indoor temperature” dynamic attribute of the“Thermostat” object entity 802 in the example discussed above may be themost recent value of indoor temperature provided by the Thermostatdevice. Management service 706 can use the relational objects of theentity data for Thermostat to determine where to update the data of theattribute.

For example, Management service 706 may determine that a data entity(e.g., AI 201-01) is linked to the “Current indoor temperature” dynamicattribute of Thermostat via an isLinked relational object. In this case,Management service 706 may automatically update the attribute data inthe linked data entity. Further, if a linked data entity does not exist,Management service 706 can create a data entity (e.g., AI 201-01) and aninstance of the isLinked relational object 824 to store and link the“Current indoor temperature” dynamic attribute of Thermostat therein.Accordingly, processing/analytics for Thermostat 802 may be automated.As another example, a “most recent view” attribute (or linked dataentity) of a webpage object entity may indicate the most recent time atwhich the webpage was viewed. Management service 706 can use the entitydata from a related click tracking system object entity or web serverobject entity to determine when the most recent view occurred and canautomatically update the “most recent view” attribute (or linked dataentity) of the webpage entity accordingly.

Other data entities and/or attributes may be created and/or updated as aresult of an analytic, transformation, calculation, or other processingoperation based on the raw data and/or entity data. For example,Management service 706 can use the relational objects in entity data toidentify a related access control device (e.g., a card reader, a keypad,etc.) at the entrance/exit of a building object entity. Managementservice 706 can use raw data received from the identified access controldevice to track the number of occupants entering and exiting thebuilding object entity (e.g., via related card entities used by theoccupants to enter and exit the building). Management service 706 canupdate a “number of occupants” attribute (or corresponding data entity)of the building object entity each time a person enters or exits thebuilding using a related card object entity, such that the “number ofoccupants” attribute (or data entity) reflects the current number ofoccupants within the building (or related building object entity). Asanother example, a “total revenue” attribute associated with a productline object entity may be the summation of all the revenue generatedfrom related point of sales entities. Management service 706 can use theraw data received from the related point of sales entities to determinewhen a sale of the product occurs, and can identify the amount ofrevenue generated by the sales. Management service 706 can then updatethe “total revenue” attribute (or related data entity) of the productline object entity by adding the most recent sales revenue from each ofthe related point of sales entities to the previous value of theattribute.

In some embodiments, management service 706 may use derived timeseriesdata generated from timeseries service 628 to update or create a dataentity (e.g., Daily Average 1) that uses or stores the data points inthe derived timeseries data. For example, the derived timeseries datamay include a virtual data point corresponding to the daily averagesteps calculated by timeseries service 628, and management service 706may update the data entity or entities that store or use the datacorresponding to the virtual data point as determined via the relationalobjects. In some embodiments, if a data entity corresponding to thevirtual data point does not exist, management service 706 mayautomatically create a corresponding data entity and one or morerelational objects that describe the relationship between thecorresponding data entity and other entities.

In some embodiments, management service 706 uses entity data and/or rawdata from multiple different data sources to update the attributes (orcorresponding data entities) of various object entities. For example, anobject entity representing a person (e.g., a person's cellular device orother related object entity) may include a “risk” attribute thatquantifies the person's level of risk attributable to various physical,environmental, or other conditions. Management service 706 can userelational objects of the person object entity to identify a relatedcard device and/or a related card reader from a related building objectentity (e.g., the building in which the person works) to determine thephysical location of the person at any given time. Management service706 can determine from raw data (e.g., time that the card device wasscanned by the card reader) or derived timeseries data (e.g., averagetime of arrival) whether the person object is located in the building ormay be in transit to the building. Management service 706 can useweather data from a weather service in the region in which the buildingobject entity is located to determine whether any severe weather isapproaching the person's location. Similarly, management service 706 canuse building data from related building entities of the building objectentity to determine whether the building in which the person is locatedis experiencing any emergency conditions (e.g., fire, building lockdown,etc.) or environmental hazards (e.g., detected air contaminants,pollutants, extreme temperatures, etc.) that could increase the person'slevel of risk. Management service 706 can use these and other types ofdata as inputs to a risk function that calculates the value of theperson object's “risk” attribute and can update the person object (orrelated device entity of the person object) accordingly.

In some embodiments, management service 706 can be configured tosynchronize configuration settings, parameters, and otherdevice-specific or object-specific information between the entities andCloud building management platform 620. In some embodiments, thesynchronization occurs asynchronously. Management service 706 can beconfigured to manage device properties dynamically. The deviceproperties, configuration settings, parameters, and otherdevice-specific information can be synchronized between the smartentities created by and stored within Cloud building management platform620.

In some embodiments, management service 706 is configured to manage amanifest for each of the building subsystems 528 (or devices therein).The manifest may include a set of relationships between the buildingsubsystems 528 and various entities. Further, the manifest may indicatea set of entitlements for the building subsystems 528 and/orentitlements of the various entities and/or other entities. The set ofentitlements may allow a BMS 600, building subsystem 528 and/or a userto perform certain actions within the building or (e.g., control,configure, monitor, and/or the like).

Still referring to FIG. 7, transformation service 708 can provide datavirtualization, and can transform various predefined standard datamodels for entities in a same class or type to have the same entity datastructure, regardless of the object, device, or Thing that the entityrepresents. For example, each object entity under an object class mayinclude a location attribute, regardless of whether or not the locationattribute is used or even generated. Thus, if an application is laterdeveloped requiring that each object entity includes a locationattribute, manual mapping of heterogenous data of different entities inthe same class may be avoided. Accordingly, interoperability andscalability of applications may be improved.

In some embodiments, transformation service 708 can provide entitymatching, cleansing, and correlation so that a unified cleansed view ofthe entity data including the entity related information (e.g.,relational objects) can be provided. Transformation service 708 cansupport semantic and syntactic relationship description in the form ofstandardized relational objects between the various entities. This maysimplify machine learning because the relational objects themselvesprovide all the relationship description between the entities.Accordingly, the rich set of pre-built entity models and standardizedrelational objects may provide for rapid application development anddata analytics.

Still referring to FIG. 7, the search service 710 provides a unifiedview of product related information in the form of the entity graph,which correlates entity relationships (via relational objects) amongmultiple data sources (e.g., CRM, ERP, MRP and the like). In someembodiments, the search service 710 is based on a schema-less and graphbased indexing architecture. For example, in some embodiments, thesearch service 710 provides the entity graph in which the entities arerepresented as nodes with relational objects defining the relationshipbetween the entities (or nodes). The search service 710 facilitatessimple queries without having to search multiple levels of thehierarchical tree of the entity graph. For example, search service 710can return results based on searching of entity type, individualentities, attributes, or even relational objects without requiring otherlevels or entities of the hierarchy to be searched.

Timeseries Data Platform Service

Referring now to FIG. 9, a block diagram illustrating timeseries service628 in greater detail is shown, according to some embodiments.Timeseries service 628 is shown to include a timeseries web service 902,an events service 903, a timeseries processing engine 904, and atimeseries storage interface 916. Timeseries web service 902 can beconfigured to interact with web-based applications to send and/orreceive timeseries data. In some embodiments, timeseries web service 902provides timeseries data to web-based applications. For example, if oneor more of applications 630 are web-based applications, timeseries webservice 902 can provide derived timeseries data and/or raw timeseriesdata to the web-based applications. In some embodiments, timeseries webservice 902 receives raw timeseries data from a web-based datacollector. For example, if data collector 612 is a web-basedapplication, timeseries web service 902 can receive raw data samples orraw timeseries data from data collector 612. In some embodiments,timeseries web service 902 and entity service web service 702 may beintegrated as parts of the same web service.

Timeseries storage interface 916 can be configured to store and readsamples of various timeseries (e.g., raw timeseries data and derivedtimeseries data) and eventseries (described in greater detail below).Timeseries storage interface 916 can interact with storage 614. Forexample, timeseries storage interface 916 can retrieve timeseries datafrom a timeseries database 928 within storage 614. In some embodiments,timeseries storage interface 916 reads samples from a specified starttime or start position in the timeseries to a specified stop time or astop position in the timeseries. Similarly, timeseries storage interface916 can retrieve eventseries data from an eventseries database 929within storage 614. Timeseries storage interface 916 can also storetimeseries data in timeseries database 928 and can store eventseriesdata in eventseries database 929. Advantageously, timeseries storageinterface 916 provides a consistent interface which enables logical dataindependence.

In some embodiments, timeseries storage interface 916 stores timeseriesas lists of data samples, organized by time. For example, timeseriesstorage interface 916 can store timeseries in the following format:

-   -   [<key, timestamp₁, value₁>, <key, timestamp₂, value₂>, <key,        timestamp₃, value₃>]        where key is an identifier of the source of the data samples        (e.g., timeseries ID, sensor ID, device ID, etc.), timestamp        identifies a time associated with the ith sample, and value_(i)        indicates the value of the ith sample.

In some embodiments, timeseries storage interface 916 stores eventseriesas lists of events having a start time, an end time, and a state. Forexample, timeseries storage interface 916 can store eventseries in thefollowing format:

-   -   [<eventID₁, start_timestamp₁, end_timestamp₁, state₁>, . . . ,        <eventID_(N), start_timestamp_(N), end_timestamp_(N),        state_(N)>]        where eventID₁ is an identifier of the ith event,        start_timestamp₁ is the time at which the ith event started,        end_timestamp_(i) is the time at which the ith event ended,        state describes a state or condition associated with the ith        event (e.g., cold, hot, warm, etc.), and N is the total number        of events in the eventseries.

In some embodiments, timeseries storage interface 916 stores timeseriesand eventseries in a tabular format. Timeseries storage interface 916can store timeseries and eventseries in various tables having a columnfor each attribute of the timeseries/eventseries samples (e.g., key,timestamp, value). The timeseries tables can be stored in timeseriesdatabase 928, whereas the eventseries tables can be stored ineventseries database 929. In some embodiments, timeseries storageinterface 916 caches older data to storage 614 but stores newer data inRAM. This may improve read performance when the newer data are requestedfor processing.

In some embodiments, timeseries storage interface 916 omits one or moreof the attributes when storing the timeseries samples. For example,timeseries storage interface 916 may not need to repeatedly store thekey or timeseries ID for each sample in the timeseries. In someembodiments, timeseries storage interface 916 omits timestamps from oneor more of the samples. If samples of a particular timeseries havetimestamps at regular intervals (e.g., one sample each minute),timeseries storage interface 916 can organize the samples by timestampsand store the values of the samples in a row. The timestamp of the firstsample can be stored along with the interval between the timestamps.Timeseries storage interface 916 can determine the timestamp of anysample in the row based on the timestamp of the first sample and theposition of the sample in the row.

In some embodiments, timeseries storage interface 916 stores one or moresamples with an attribute indicating a change in value relative to theprevious sample value. The change in value can replace the actual valueof the sample when the sample is stored in timeseries database 928. Thisallows timeseries storage interface 916 to use fewer bits when storingsamples and their corresponding values. Timeseries storage interface 916can determine the value of any sample based on the value of the firstsample and the change in value of each successive sample.

In some embodiments, timeseries storage interface 916 invokes entityservice 626 to create data entities in which samples of timeseries dataand/or eventseries data can be stored. The data entities can includeJSON objects or other types of data objects to store one or moretimeseries samples and/or eventseries samples. Timeseries storageinterface 916 can be configured to add samples to the data entities andread samples from the data entities. For example, timeseries storageinterface 916 can receive a set of samples from data collector 612,entity service 626, timeseries web service 902, events service 903,and/or timeseries processing engine 904. Timeseries storage interface916 can add the set of samples to a data entity by sending the samplesto entity service 626 to be stored in the data entity, for example, ormay directly interface with the data entity to add/modify the sample tothe data entity.

Timeseries storage interface 916 can use data entities when readingsamples from storage 614. For example, timeseries storage interface 916can retrieve a set of samples from storage 614 or from entity service626, and add the samples to a data entity (e.g., directly or via entityservice 626). In some embodiments, the set of samples include allsamples within a specified time period (e.g., samples with timestamps inthe specified time period) or eventseries samples having a specifiedstate. Timeseries storage interface 916 can provide the samples in thedata entity to timeseries web service 902, events service 903,timeseries processing engine 904, applications 630, and/or othercomponents configured to use the timeseries/eventseries samples.

Still referring to FIG. 9, timeseries processing engine 904 is shown toinclude several timeseries operators 906. Timeseries operators 906 canbe configured to apply various operations, transformations, or functionsto one or more input timeseries to generate output timeseries and/oreventseries. The input timeseries can include raw timeseries data and/orderived timeseries data. Timeseries operators 906 can be configured tocalculate aggregate values, averages, or apply other mathematicaloperations to the input timeseries. In some embodiments, timeseriesoperators 906 generate virtual point timeseries by combining two or moreinput timeseries (e.g., adding the timeseries together), creatingmultiple output timeseries from a single input timeseries, or applyingmathematical operations to the input timeseries. In some embodiments,timeseries operators 906 perform data cleansing operations ordeduplication operations on an input timeseries. In some embodiments,timeseries operators 906 use the input timeseries to generateeventseries based on the values of the timeseries samples. The outputtimeseries can be stored as derived timeseries data in storage 614 asone or more timeseries data entities. Similarly, the eventseries can bestored as eventseries data entities in storage 614.

In some embodiments, timeseries operators 906 do not change or replacethe raw timeseries data, but rather generate various “views” of the rawtimeseries data (e.g., as separate data entities) with correspondingrelational objects defining the relationships between the raw timeseriesdata entity and the various views data entities. The views can bequeried in the same manner as the raw timeseries data. For example,samples can be read from the raw timeseries data entity, transformed tocreate the view entity, and then provided as an output. Because thetransformations used to create the views can be computationallyexpensive, the views can be stored as “materialized view” data entitiesin timeseries database 928. Instances of relational objects can becreated to define the relationship between the raw timeseries dataentity and the materialize view data entities. These materialized viewsare referred to as derived data timeseries throughout the presentdisclosure.

Timeseries operators 906 can be configured to run at query time (e.g.,when a request for derived data timeseries is received) or prior toquery time (e.g., when new raw data samples are received, in response toa defined event or trigger, etc.). This flexibility allows timeseriesoperators 906 to perform some or all of their operations ahead of timeand/or in response to a request for specific derived data timeseries.For example, timeseries operators 906 can be configured to pre-processone or more timeseries that are read frequently to ensure that thetimeseries are updated whenever new data samples are received, and thepre-processed timeseries may be stored in a corresponding data entityfor retrieval. However, timeseries operators 906 can be configured towait until query time to process one or more timeseries that are readinfrequently to avoid performing unnecessary processing operations.

In some embodiments, timeseries operators 906 are triggered in aparticular sequence defined by a directed acyclic graph (DAG). The DAGmay define a workflow or sequence of operations or transformations toapply to one or more input timeseries. For example, the DAG for a rawdata timeseries may include a data cleansing operation, an aggregationoperation, and a summation operation (e.g., adding two raw datatimeseries to create a virtual point timeseries). The DAGs can be storedin a DAG database 930 within storage 614, or internally withintimeseries processing engine 904. DAGs can be retrieved by workflowmanager 922 and used to determine how and when to process incoming datasamples. Exemplary systems and methods for creating and using DAGs aredescribed in greater detail below.

Timeseries operators 906 can perform aggregations for dashboards,cleansing operations, logical operations for rules and fault detection,machine learning predictions or classifications, call out to externalservices, or any of a variety of other operations which can be appliedto timeseries data. The operations performed by timeseries operators 906are not limited to timeseries data. Timeseries operators 906 can alsooperate on event data or function as a billing engine for a consumptionor tariff-based billing system. Timeseries operators 906 are shown toinclude a sample aggregator 908, a virtual point calculator 910, aweather point calculator 912, a fault detector 914, and an eventseriesgenerator 915.

Still referring to FIG. 9, timeseries processing engine 904 is shown toinclude a DAG optimizer 918. DAG optimizer 918 can be configured tocombine multiple DAGs or multiple steps of a DAG to improve theefficiency of the operations performed by timeseries operators 906. Forexample, suppose that a DAG has one functional block which adds“Timeseries A” and “Timeseries B” to create “Timeseries C” (i.e., A+B=C)and another functional block which adds “Timeseries C” and “TimeseriesD” to create “Timeseries E” (i.e., C+D=E). DAG optimizer 918 can combinethese two functional blocks into a single functional block whichcomputes “Timeseries E” directly from “Timeseries A,” “Timeseries B,”and “Timeseries D” (i.e., E=A+B+D). Alternatively, both “Timeseries C”and “Timeseries E” can be computed in the same functional block toreduce the number of independent operations required to process the DAG.

In some embodiments, DAG optimizer 918 combines DAGs or steps of a DAGin response to a determination that multiple DAGs or steps of a DAG willuse similar or shared inputs (e.g., one or more of the same inputtimeseries). This allows the inputs to be retrieved and loaded oncerather than performing two separate operations that both load the sameinputs. In some embodiments, DAG optimizer 918 schedules timeseriesoperators 906 to nodes where data is resident in memory in order tofurther reduce the amount of data required to be loaded from thetimeseries database 928.

Timeseries processing engine 904 is shown to include a directed acyclicgraph (DAG) generator 920. DAG generator 920 can be configured togenerate one or more DAGs for each raw data timeseries. Each DAG maydefine a workflow or sequence of operations which can be performed bytimeseries operators 906 on the raw data timeseries. When new samples ofthe raw data timeseries are received, workflow manager 922 can retrievethe corresponding DAG and use the DAG to determine how the raw datatimeseries should be processed. In some embodiments, the DAGs aredeclarative views which represent the sequence of operations applied toeach raw data timeseries. The DAGs may be designed for timeseries ratherthan structured query language (SQL).

In some embodiments, DAGs apply over windows of time. For example, thetimeseries processing operations defined by a DAG may include a dataaggregation operation that aggregates a plurality of raw data sampleshaving timestamps within a given time window. The start time and endtime of the time window may be defined by the DAG and the timeseries towhich the DAG is applied. The DAG may define the duration of the timewindow over which the data aggregation operation will be performed. Forexample, the DAG may define the aggregation operation as an hourlyaggregation (i.e., to produce an hourly data rollup timeseries), a dailyaggregation (i.e., to produce a daily data rollup timeseries), a weeklyaggregation (i.e., to produce a weekly data rollup timeseries), or anyother aggregation duration. The position of the time window (e.g., aspecific day, a specific week, etc.) over which the aggregation isperformed may be defined by the timestamps of the data samples oftimeseries provided as an input to the DAG.

In operation, sample aggregator 908 can use the DAG to identify theduration of the time window (e.g., an hour, a day, a week, etc.) overwhich the data aggregation operation will be performed. Sampleaggregator 908 can use the timestamps of the data samples in thetimeseries provided as an input to the DAG to identify the location ofthe time window (i.e., the start time and the end time). Sampleaggregator 908 can set the start time and end time of the time windowsuch that the time window has the identified duration and includes thetimestamps of the data samples. In some embodiments, the time windowsare fixed, having predefined start times and end times (e.g., thebeginning and end of each hour, day, week, etc.). In other embodiments,the time windows may be sliding time windows, having start times and endtimes that depend on the timestamps of the data samples in the inputtimeseries.

FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram of a process or method forupdating/creating a data entity based on data received from a device ofa building subsystem, according to some embodiments. Referring to FIG.10, the process starts, and when timeseries data (e.g., raw or inputtimeseries data) that has been generated for a device of a buildingsubsystem (e.g., by the data collector) is received, the transformationservice 708 may determine an identifier of the device from the receivedtimeseries data at block 1005. At block 1010, the transformation service708 may compare an identity static attribute from the data with identitystatic attributes of registered object entities to locate a datacontainer for the device. If a match does not exist from the comparisonat block 1015, the transformation service 708 may invoke theregistration service to register the device at block 1020. If a matchexists from the comparison at block 1015, the transformation service 708may generate an entity graph or retrieve entity data for the device atblock 1025. From the entity graph or entity data, transformation service708 may determine if a corresponding data entity exists based on therelational objects (e.g., isLinked) for the device to update a dynamicattribute from the data at block 1025. If not, management service 706may create a data entity for the dynamic attribute and an instance of acorresponding relational object (e.g., isLinked) to define therelationship between the dynamic attribute and created data entity atblock 1040. If the corresponding data entity exists, management service706 may update the data entity corresponding to the dynamic attributefrom the data at block 1045. Then, transformation service 708 may updateor regenerate the entity graph or entity data at block 1050, and theprocess may end.

FIG. 11 is an example entity graph of entity data according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. The example of FIG. 11 assumesthat an HVAC fault detection application has detected an abnormaltemperature measurement with respect to Temperature Sensor 1112.However, Temperature Sensor 1112 itself may be operating properly, butmay rely on various factors, conditions, and other systems and devicesto measure the temperature properly. Accordingly, for example, the HVACfault detection application may need to know the room 1114 in which theTemperature Sensor 1112 is located, the corresponding temperaturesetpoint, the status of the VAV 1104 that supplies conditioned air tothe room 1114, the status of the AHU 1102 that feeds the VAV 1104, thestatus of the vents in the HVAC zone 1110, etc., in order to pin pointthe cause of the abnormal measurement. Thus, the HVAC fault detectionapplication may require additional information from various relatedsubsystems and devices (e.g., entity objects), as well as the zones androoms (e.g., entity objects) that the subsystems and devices areconfigured to serve, to properly determine or infer the cause of theabnormal measurement.

Referring to FIG. 11, entity graph 1100 represents each of the entities(e.g., Temperature Sensor 1112 and related entities) as nodes on theentity graph 1100, and shows the relationship between the nodes (e.g.,Temperature Sensor 1112 and related entities) via relational objects(e.g., feeds, hasPoint, hasPart, Controls, etc.). For example, entitygraph 1100 shows that Temperature Sensor 1112 provides temperaturereadings (e.g., hasPoint) to the VAV 1104 and the HVAC Zone 1110. An AHU1102 provides (e.g., feeds) the VAV 1104 with chilled and/or heated air.The AHU 1102 receives/provides power readings (e.g., hasPoint) from/to aPower Meter 1108. The VAV 1104 provides (e.g., feeds) air to HVAC Zone1110 using (e.g., hasPart) a Damper 1106. The HVAC Zone 1110 providesthe air to Room 1114. Further, Rooms 1114 and 1120 are located in (e.g.,hasPart) Lighting Zone 1118, which is controlled (e.g., controls) byLighting Controller 1116.

Accordingly, in the example of FIG. 11, in response to receiving thefaulty measurement from Temperature Sensor 1112, the HVAC faultdetection application and/or analytics service 624 can determine fromthe entity graph that the fault could be caused by some malfunction inone or more of the other related entities, and not necessarily amalfunction of the Temperature Sensor 1112. Thus, the HVAC faultdetection application and/or the analytics service 624 can furtherinvestigate into the other related entities to determine or infer themost likely cause of the fault.

For example, FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a process or method foranalyzing data from a second related device based on data from a firstdevice, according to some embodiments. Referring to FIG. 12, the processstarts and timeseries data (e.g., raw or input timeseries data generatedby data collector) including an abnormal measurement from a first deviceis received at block 1205. Transformation service 708 determines anidentifier of the first device from the received timeseries data atblock 1210. Transformation service 708 identifies a second device thatis related to the first device through relational objects associatedwith the first device at block 1215. The second device can be part ofthe same building subsystem as that of the first device or differentbuilding subsystem, and can be for a same building as that of the firstdevice or different building. Transformation service 708 invokes webservice 702 to retrieve measurement data from the second device at block1220. Analytics service 624 analyzes the data from the first device andthe second device at block 1225. Analytics service 624 provides arecommendation from the analysis of the data from each of the firstdevice and the second device at block 1230, and the process ends.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a process or method for generating derivedtimeseries from data generated by a first device and a second device,according to some embodiments. Referring to FIG. 13, the process startsand raw data is received from a first device of a building managementsubsystem at block 1305. The raw data may include one or more datapoints generated by the first device. For example, the data points maybe measurement values generated by the first device. The data collector612 generates raw (or input) timeseries from the raw data at block 1310.The raw timeseries may include an identifier of the first device, atimestamp (e.g., a local timestamp) of when the one or more data pointswere generated by the first device and an offset value, and a value ofthe one or more data points.

Transformation service 708 determines an identifier of the first devicefrom the raw timeseries data, and identifies (e.g., using entity graphor data) a first object entity representing the first device at block1315. The raw timeseries data is stored in a corresponding data entitythat is related to the first object entity at block 1320. For example,transformation service 708 may identify the corresponding data entityfrom a relational object defining the relationship between the firstobject entity and the corresponding data entity.

Timeseries processing engine 904 identifies a processing workflow (e.g.,a DAG processing workflow) to process the raw timeseries data at block1325. In the example of FIG. 13, the processing workflow takes as input,the raw timeseries data for the first device, and data from a seconddevice. The second device can be part of the same building subsystem asthat of the first device or different building subsystem, and can be fora same building as that of the first device or different building. Asecond object entity for the second device is identified at block 1330.For example, the second object entity may be determined from arelational object indicating a relationship between the first objectentity and the second object entity. A corresponding data entity storingraw or derived timeseries data for the second device is identified atblock 1335. For example, the corresponding data entity may be determinedfrom a relational descriptor indicating a relationship between thesecond object entity and the corresponding data entity.

The processing workflow is executed to generate the derived timeseriesat block 1340. For example, the derived timeseries may include a virtualdata point that is calculated using data from the first device and thesecond device. For example, an arithmetic operation may be performed onthe data of the first and second devices to calculate the virtual datapoint. A corresponding data entity is identified to store the derivedtimeseries. For example, the corresponding data entity may be identifiedthrough one or more relational objects indicating a relationship betweenthe corresponding data entity and the first device and/or thecorresponding data entity and the second device. The derived timeseriesis stored in the corresponding data entity at block 1345, and theprocess ends.

Configuration of Exemplary Embodiments

The construction and arrangement of the systems and methods as shown inthe various exemplary embodiments are illustrative only. Although only afew embodiments have been described in detail in this disclosure, manymodifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions,structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values ofparameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors,orientations, etc.). For example, the position of elements can bereversed or otherwise varied and the nature or number of discreteelements or positions can be altered or varied. Accordingly, all suchmodifications are intended to be included within the scope of thepresent disclosure. The order or sequence of any process or method stepscan be varied or re-sequenced according to alternative embodiments.Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions can be madein the design, operating conditions and arrangement of the exemplaryembodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure contemplates methods, systems and programproducts on any machine-readable media for accomplishing variousoperations. The embodiments of the present disclosure can be implementedusing existing computer processors, or by a special purpose computerprocessor for an appropriate system, incorporated for this or anotherpurpose, or by a hardwired system. Embodiments within the scope of thepresent disclosure include program products comprising machine-readablemedia for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or datastructures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be anyavailable media that can be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer or other machine with a processor. By way of example,such machine-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROMor other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or storedesired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions ordata structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose orspecial purpose computer or other machine with a processor. Combinationsof the above are also included within the scope of machine-readablemedia. Machine-executable instructions include, for example,instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform acertain function or group of functions.

Although the figures show a specific order of method steps, the order ofthe steps may differ from what is depicted. Also two or more steps canbe performed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Such variationwill depend on the software and hardware systems chosen and on designerchoice. All such variations are within the scope of the disclosure.Likewise, software implementations could be accomplished with standardprogramming techniques with rule based logic and other logic toaccomplish the various connection steps, processing steps, comparisonsteps and decision steps.

The term “client or “server” include all kinds of apparatus, devices,and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, a system on a chip, or multipleones, or combinations, of the foregoing. The apparatus may includespecial purpose logic circuitry, e.g., a field programmable gate array(FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Theapparatus may also include, in addition to hardware, code that createsan execution environment for the computer program in question (e.g.,code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, a cross-platform runtimeenvironment, a virtual machine, or a combination of one or more ofthem). The apparatus and execution environment may realize variousdifferent computing model infrastructures, such as web services,distributed computing and grid computing infrastructures.

The systems and methods of the present disclosure may be completed byany computer program. A computer program (also known as a program,software, software application, script, or code) may be written in anyform of programming language, including compiled or interpretedlanguages, declarative or procedural languages, and it may be deployedin any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module,component, subroutine, object, or other unit suitable for use in acomputing environment. A computer program may, but need not, correspondto a file in a file system. A program may be stored in a portion of afile that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts storedin a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to theprogram in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files thatstore one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). Acomputer program may be deployed to be executed on one computer or onmultiple computers that are located at one site or distributed acrossmultiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification may beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform actions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows may also be performedby, and apparatus may also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry (e.g., an FPGA or an ASIC).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing actions in accordance with instructions andone or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally,a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive datafrom or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data (e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks).However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer maybe embedded in another device (e.g., a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console,a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device(e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive), etc.). Devicessuitable for storing computer program instructions and data include allforms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by wayof example semiconductor memory devices (e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD ROM and DVD-ROM disks). Theprocessor and the memory may be supplemented by, or incorporated in,special purpose logic circuitry.

In various implementations, the steps and operations described hereinmay be performed on one processor or in a combination of two or moreprocessors. For example, in some implementations, the various operationscould be performed in a central server or set of central serversconfigured to receive data from one or more devices (e.g., edgecomputing devices/controllers) and perform the operations. In someimplementations, the operations may be performed by one or more localcontrollers or computing devices (e.g., edge devices), such ascontrollers dedicated to and/or located within a particular building orportion of a building. In some implementations, the operations may beperformed by a combination of one or more central or offsite computingdevices/servers and one or more local controllers/computing devices. Allsuch implementations are contemplated within the scope of the presentdisclosure. Further, unless otherwise indicated, when the presentdisclosure refers to one or more computer-readable storage media and/orone or more controllers, such computer-readable storage media and/or oneor more controllers may be implemented as one or more central servers,one or more local controllers or computing devices (e.g., edge devices),any combination thereof, or any other combination of storage mediaand/or controllers regardless of the location of such devices.

To provide for interaction with a user, implementations of the subjectmatter described in this specification may be implemented on a computerhaving a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD (liquidcrystal display), OLED (organic light emitting diode), TFT (thin-filmtransistor), or other flexible configuration, or any other monitor fordisplaying information to the user and a keyboard, a pointing device,e.g., a mouse, trackball, etc., or a touch screen, touch pad, etc.) bywhich the user may provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devicesmay be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback (e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback), and input fromthe user may be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer may interact with a user bysending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's client device in response to requests received from the webbrowser.

Implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure maybe implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component(e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g.,an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., aclient computer) having a graphical user interface or a web browserthrough which a user may interact with an implementation of the subjectmatter described in this disclosure, or any combination of one or moresuch back end, middleware, or front end components. The components ofthe system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital datacommunication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communicationnetworks include a LAN and a WAN, an inter-network (e.g., the Internet),and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

The present disclosure may be embodied in various different forms, andshould not be construed as being limited to only the illustratedembodiments herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided as examplesso that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the aspects and features of the present disclosure to thoseskilled in the art. Accordingly, processes, elements, and techniquesthat are not necessary to those having ordinary skill in the art for acomplete understanding of the aspects and features of the presentdisclosure may not be described. Unless otherwise noted, like referencenumerals denote like elements throughout the attached drawings and thewritten description, and thus, descriptions thereof may not be repeated.Further, features or aspects within each example embodiment shouldtypically be considered as available for other similar features oraspects in other example embodiments.

It will be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,”“third,” etc., may be used herein to describe various elements,components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components,regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms.These terms are used to distinguish one element, component, region,layer or section from another element, component, region, layer orsection. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or sectiondescribed below could be termed a second element, component, region,layer or section, without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the presentdisclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a” and “an” are intendedto include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and “including,” “has,” “have,”and “having,” when used in this specification, specify the presence ofthe stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes anyand all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding a list ofelements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify theindividual elements of the list.

As used herein, the term “substantially,” “about,” and similar terms areused as terms of approximation and not as terms of degree, and areintended to account for the inherent variations in measured orcalculated values that would be recognized by those of ordinary skill inthe art. Further, the use of “may” when describing embodiments of thepresent disclosure refers to “one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure.” As used herein, the terms “use,” “using,” and “used” may beconsidered synonymous with the terms “utilize,” “utilizing,” and“utilized,” respectively. Also, the term “exemplary” is intended torefer to an example or illustration.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

What is claimed is:
 1. A building system of a building comprising one ormore storage devices storing instructions thereon that, when executed byone or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: store aplurality of entities and a plurality of relationships between theplurality of entities in a building entity database, wherein theplurality of entities represent building components of the building anddata of the building components and the plurality of relationshipsrepresent relationships between the building components of the buildingand the data; receive a plurality of events from a building component ofthe building; generate a plurality of event data entities for theplurality of events; and add the plurality of event data entities to thebuilding entity database and one or more relationships between theplurality of event data entities and a building component entity of theplurality of entities representing the building component.
 2. Thebuilding system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of relationshipssemantically define types of relationships between the plurality ofentities.
 3. The building system of claim 1, wherein the plurality ofevents include a value generated by the building component and anindication of a time at which the value was generated.
 4. The buildingsystem of claim 1, wherein an operational command entity of theplurality of entities is an operational command of the buildingcomponent, the operational command entity and the building componententity related by one or more particular relationships of the pluralityof relationships; wherein the instructions cause the one or moreprocessors to: receive an indication to perform the operational commandfor the building component; and operate the building component based onthe operational command entity related to the building component entityin response to receiving the indication to perform the operationalcommand.
 5. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructionscause the one or more processors to: access the building entity databaseto identify the building component entity in response to determiningthat the plurality of events are associated with the building component;and add the plurality of event data entities to the building entitydatabase and the one or more relationships between the plurality ofevent data entities and the building component entity in response toidentifying the building component entity.
 6. The building system ofclaim 5, wherein the plurality of events are generated by the buildingcomponent.
 7. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructionscause the one or more processors to: identify one or more processingworkflows that define one or more processing operations to generatederived data using the plurality of events; execute the one or moreprocessing workflows to generate the derived data; identify a dataentity from a relationship of the plurality of relationships between thedata entity and the building component entity; and store the deriveddata in the data entity.
 8. The building system of claim 7, wherein thebuilding component is a temperature sensor; wherein and the instructionscause the one or more processors to: periodically receive temperaturemeasurements from the temperature sensor; and update the derived data inthe data entity each time a new temperature measurement from thetemperature sensor is received.
 9. The building system of claim 8,wherein the derived data includes an average ambient temperature of aspace in which the temperature sensor is located.
 10. A method for abuilding, the method comprising: storing, by a processing circuit, aplurality of entities and a plurality of relationships between theplurality of entities in a building entity database, wherein theplurality of entities represent building components of the building anddata of the building components and the plurality of relationshipsrepresent relationships between the building components of the buildingand the data; receiving, by the processing circuit, a plurality ofevents from a building component of the building; generating, by theprocessing circuit, a plurality of event data entities for the pluralityof events; and adding, by the processing circuit, the plurality of eventdata entities to the building entity database and one or morerelationships between the plurality of event data entities and abuilding component entity of the plurality of entities representing thebuilding component.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality ofrelationships semantically define types of relationships between theplurality of entities.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the pluralityof events include a value generated by the building component and anindication of a time at which the value was generated.
 13. The method ofclaim 10, wherein an operational command entity of the plurality ofentities is an operational command of the building component, theoperational command entity and the building component entity related byone or more particular relationships of the plurality of relationships;wherein the method comprises: receiving, by the processing circuit, anindication to perform the operational command for the buildingcomponent; and operating, by the processing circuit, the buildingcomponent based on the operational command entity related to thebuilding component entity in response to receiving the indication toperform the operational command.
 14. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising: accessing, by the processing circuit, the building entitydatabase to identify the building component entity in response todetermining that the plurality of events are associated with thebuilding component; and adding, by the processing circuit, the pluralityof event data entities to the building entity database and the one ormore relationships between the plurality of event data entities and thebuilding component entity in response to identifying the buildingcomponent entity.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality ofevents are generated by the building component.
 16. The method of claim10, further comprising: identifying, by the processing circuit, one ormore processing workflows that define one or more processing operationsto generate derived data using the plurality of events; executing, bythe processing circuit, the one or more processing workflows to generatethe derived data; identifying, by the processing circuit, a data entityfrom a relationship of the plurality of relationships between the dataentity and the building component entity; and storing, by the processingcircuit, the derived data in the data entity.
 17. The method of claim16, wherein the building component is a temperature sensor; wherein themethod further comprises: periodically receiving, by the processingcircuit, temperature measurements from the temperature sensor; andupdating, by the processing circuit, the derived data in the data entityeach time a new temperature measurement from the temperature sensor isreceived.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the derived data includesan average ambient temperature of a space in which the temperaturesensor is located.
 19. A building system of a building comprising: oneor more storage devices storing instructions thereon; and one or moreprocessors that execute the instructions causing the one or moreprocessors to: store a plurality of entities and a plurality ofrelationships between the plurality of entities in a building entitydatabase, wherein the plurality of entities represent buildingcomponents of the building and data of the building components and theplurality of relationships represent relationships between the buildingcomponents of the building and the data; receive a plurality of eventsfrom a building component of the building; generate a plurality of eventdata entities for the plurality of events; and add the plurality ofevent data entities to the building entity database and one or morerelationships between the plurality of event data entities and abuilding component entity of the plurality of entities representing thebuilding component.
 20. The building system of claim 19, wherein theplurality of events include a value generated by the building componentand an indication of a time at which the value was generated.